Dr. Nancy Mackin, Architect AIBC, LEED AP, AIA, PhD is a busy architectural practitioner committed to respecting cultures and the earth in every project. She is founder of Mackin Architects Ltd and recent recipient of Canada Green Building Council “Against the Grain” and “Western red-cedar” awards as well as a Canada Green Building Award (SAB) and Architectural Foundation of BC award of excellence. Her PhD focused on community-based design, Indigenous architectural history, and the role of architecture in landscape ecology. Nancy’s designs bring together lessons from BC’s Indigenous peoples’ architecture and the shared vision of clients, stakeholders, and communities. She imbues architecture with an understanding of how plant-based building materials have inspired form and detail for countless generations. Nancy is an adopted killerwhale in Gitwinksihlkw (Nisga’a) and Kitselas (Tsimshian). Her Nisga’a name, Hiilagum Hlocks, translates to “Morning Sun”. Nancy’s architectural and landscape work with polar and sub-polar Indigenous peoples has been presented internationally, including New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Portugal, Italy, and Iceland.
