In Canada, Indigenous communities face a serious housing crisis, with the Assembly of First Nations reporting that well over 150,000 new homes are required in order to begin to close the housing gap. To help address this urgent need for housing, Toronto-based real estate developer Horizon Legacy has teamed up with Two Row Architect, a native-owned firm from Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in southern Ontario. Together, the partners are breaking ground on a new construction project that will use robotic 3D printing technology to build a three-story residential building.
The ambitious new project, which is expected to house up to 30 units, is called Eh ni da se, which means “new moon” in the Northern Iroquoian language Cayoga. Not only does this name symbolize the idea of new beginnings, but it is also incorporated into the building’s unique design, which has a crescent-like floor plan. The three-story build is being completed under phase one of the project, while subsequent phases could see more builds erected.
“This partnership is about more than building homes—it’s about claiming our power and sovereignty through innovation and designs that respects Indigenous values and identity,” explained Brian Porter, Principal architect at Two Row Architect, who has been designing buildings inspired by Indigenous culture and ways of life for over thirty years. “By combining our traditions with cutting-edge technology, we’re setting a new path forward for our communities.”
Manufacturing on Demand
The cutting-edge technology he references is a robotic construction 3D printing platform. The printing system, called VAL 2.0, was developed in-house at Horizon Legacy as was the concrete material used to build multi-story walls. The printer, which deposits layers of concrete on-site, is already in use for other projects, including a 26 housing project in Gananoque, Ontario. This project, a proof of concept for how Horizon Legacy’s technology could solve not only housing shortage issues but also labor shortages in the Canadian market, broke ground in late 2024 and is expected to be complete in fall of this year.
The Eh ni da se project, for its part, launched this spring and is funded through a $3.7 million grant from Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, a federal agency under Canada’s Industry, Science and Economic Development (ISED) department. It is expected to become the largest multi-story Indigenous housing project made using robotic technology.
Across the globe in Australia, there are also efforts underway to address housing needs in Indigenous communities using 3D printing. A construction project in Dubbo, a city in New South Wales, is using technology from Contour3D to build a series of two-bedroom duplexes, which will be offered to tenants through the Aboriginal Housing Office. Generally speaking, construction 3D printing overcomes many challenges associated with conventional construction projects, particularly when it comes to build times, costs and labor requirements.
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Author: Tess Boissonneault
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