Sanikiluaq is located at the parallel 56 N, part of the Belcher Islands, in the Hudson Bay, Northern Canada.
As situated in the fastest-growing region on a per capita basis, the new health centre is part of the replacement plan of obsolete health facilities in remote locations of Northern Canada. The existing one was built in the early '80s and no longer meets current needs and standard, especially vital ones. The new care facility is a combination between a clinic and a hospital, with its resuscitation and tuberculose units, coupled with exam rooms offering psychological and insertion care, to name a few.
The building is divided in two different entities by a fire wall: the clinical and the emergency. Due to the scarcity of water and the lack of sewerage systems in northern villages, the use of sprinklers has been minimized on the emergency area only. Mechanical spaces designed for care facilities up north are generally very spacious, lodging reservoirs to ensure system redundancy in case of breakdown, for drinking and waste water.
Access to the mechanical facilities is located far away from main accesses to keep the care facility out of the path of maintenance crews. Given the need of stability for the X-ray room, the area belonging to the emergency has been built on a concrete slab on grade, while the clinical area is built on piles.
The project has developed features highly adapted to weather conditions which minimize human intervention in the maintenance cycle of the building.
New Health Centre in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, Canada from Régis Côté on Vimeo.
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