cedar lá:lém spadina affordable housing

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Cedar Lá:lém, developed as Spadina Affordable Housing, provides 64 affordable homes on the site of the former Cheam View United Church in downtown Chilliwack. The congregation chose to redevelop its property as affordable housing, partnering with Mamele’awt Qweesome/To’o Housing Society (MQHS), a non-profit Indigenous housing society that now owns and operates the building.

The six-storey building sits on a downtown site with three street frontages. The ground floor keeps community and resident life apart: a club/lodge that continues the church’s outreach work, and a resident amenity area with an outdoor patio. Each has its own front door, with the club/lodge opening onto Spadina Avenue and the residential entry on Main Street. The upper floors hold 64 one-and two-bedroom homes and an outdoor amenity area. With a mix of 20 affordable market rental, 33 rent-geared-to-income and 11 subsidy units, and five are accessible.

MQHS was involved throughout the design, and regular engagement with their team shaped the building program, amenity spaces and operational requirements around community connection, safety and long-term livability. Indigenous artwork on the exterior makes the building a recognizable landmark on the downtown streetscape and a source of pride and belonging for residents. The stained glass window from the former church was reclaimed and set as a cornerstone of the main entrance, paying tribute to the site’s history as a place of gathering and refuge while conserving embodied carbon.

The project was delivered through design-build. Working with the owner and contractor, our team reviewed building systems, materials and layouts at every stage to improve cost and constructibility without losing the design intent. This included simplified interior finishes, a standardized window design, more efficient suite layouts, an optimized mechanical system, a refined commercial kitchen layout and equipment list, and a cost-effective lighting package. Change orders were limited to owner and City requests, and the final cost came in within one percent of the initial budget.

Cedar Lá:lém gives families, Elders and individuals in Chilliwack safe, affordable homes on a site that has served the community for generations.