Imagine: It’s 2035. As you look across False Creek toward downtown Vancouver, the two arms of a ceremonial gate rise alongside the Burrard Street Bridge. It’s flanked by a dozen towers, their façades punctuated with imagery by Indigenous artists, surrounded by green lan­dscapes and copses of red cedar.

This is a Vancouver in which the Squamish Nation has had a strong presence on the skyline – and a serious impact on the city, having built 6,000 homes in a new neighbourhood called Senakw.

Fourteen months after the proposal was publicly introduced, its architecture is largely complete, and it has evolved. “The expression of Squamish values is becoming more and more clear,” said Khelsilem, a Squamish councillor who is leading the project for his nation in partnership with developers Westbank. They plan to start construction late this year.

Khelsilem recently walked me through the project together with its lead architect, Venelin Kokalov of Revery Architecture. It will be the largest and most prominent example yet of Indigenous city-building in North America, and its urban design breaks dramatically with convention: Senakw will be compact, green and dense, bringing public life across the site and below ground.

The four-million-square-foot complex will occupy a three-pointed, 4.7-hectare fragment of traditional Squamish land along False Creek. The site includes the area under the bridge and a strip alongside Vanier Park.

The project, which is not subject to city regulation, now consists of 12 buildings ranging from 17 to 59 storeys. Since last year, the Squamish and Westbank have added an office tower. It will include low-emissions construction and energy-efficient architecture, very few private cars and a rich mix of activities.

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