Wilfrid Laurier University - Indigenous Student Centre Garden, Brantford, ON

Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU, Brantford Campus) wished to improve their existing Indigenous Garden located at 111 Darling St. (a heritage building), to create an improved experience overall for students, staff and faculty. There areapproximately 250 Indigenous students at the Brampton campus, with 20-30 students enjoying the garden space during the day. And visitors from Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation are also often welcomed into the space. The landscape design included a circular sacred fire gathering space for ceremony, Traditional Teachings, storytelling, and land-based learning. The space is safe, welcoming and accessible, and surrounded with vibrant and biodiverse low maintenance
gardens. Site improvements included wood benches, stone boulders and stone seating, picnic tables, a cedar hedge, raised wood community garden planters, and planting beds with extensive native plant species and berry bush plantings. Opportunities for Indigenous placekeeping such as art, and wayfinding signage with narratives, were also explored, and future custom designs by local Indigenous artists for the fire pit, and metal screens (to hide the existing mechanical
equipment beside the building). The intention was that the garden could serve as a precedent that could be repeated elsewhere on WLU’s campuses. SpruceLab engaged WLU Indigenous Student Services and Facilities staff early in the
project to help inform the design and to better understand the programming and other needs that the gardens would
support. The firm was responsible for the design through to the creation of tender contract documents, which the University used in the project implementation, Fall of 2024. Students, faculty and staff are involved in the ongoing stewardship and development of the project as funding becomes available.