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Eco-Theology: St. Gabriel Passionist Parish

Eco-Theology: St. Gabriel Passionist Parish

Writer: Olivia McDowell

Eco-Theology: St. Gabriel Passionist Parish0

Eco-Theology: St. Gabriel Passionist Parish1

Eco-Theology: St. Gabriel Passionist Parish2

Eco-Theology: St. Gabriel Passionist Parish3

'God rays’ are among nature’s finest phenomena - we see them when the sun streams down through the clouds after a mid-afternoon storm, or when the ocean shimmers like liquid gold under focused beams of brilliant sunlight.

The new church for the St Gabriel Passionist Parish, designed by Larkin Architects Limited captures this natural beauty in its glass façade, channelling bold rays of coloured sunlight onto every surface of the church interior. Whereas traditional churches use concentrated and detailed stained glass tableaux to create an other-worldly setting, here the entire Southern aspect is glazed. This not only harnesses the natural warmth of the Canadian winter sun, but also extends the sacred space into the world beyond, so that when the parishioners gather there, they do so in the universal context of creation. The sunlight also filters through the coloured glass panels of the continuous perimeter skylight, and is dispersed by wall-mounted dichroic coated reflectors. The glass is a brilliant yellow at the southern end where the most intense sun penetrates, while rich azure blues at the northern end provide a mysterious, meditative light for the adjacent chapel of reservation and reconciliation room. The architecturally exposed concrete of the remaining three walls acts as a constantly changing canvas for an artwork that changes with the weather, the time of day and the shifting seasons.

However, if it were necessary to pick out one colour that truly represents the new St Gabriel’s Church, it would have to be a resounding, sustainable green. The entire building process was a Leadership in Energy and Environments Design (LEED®) Gold Medal project, with carefully considered research and planning from design through to construction and the selection of furnishings. This “eco-theology” is applied at every level in the construction, mechanics and operation of the Church. The construction phase saw the use of local materials and recycled steel, and waste was redirected from landfill to recycling. Recycling extended to the reuse of existing pews, stained glass, etched glass and liturgical furnishing, in a step towards better stewardship, as well as in deference to the heritage of the Church. The building itself uses maximised insulation; heat recovery methodologies; passive solar heating using the thermal mass of the building; natural ventilation and lighting; lighting controlled by room occupancy and daylight sensors and ventilation activated by carbon dioxide sensors. The furnishings were all selected for their low VOC (volatile organic compound) content, all the office furnishings are GreenGuardTM certified, and the carpets have a percentage of the fibre made from beets and cornstalks.

St Gabriel’s church is also set apart from its contemporaries on a pragmatic, environmental and aesthetic level by its decidedly discreet parking arrangements. Where most modern community churches are set in the centre of a vast asphalt parking lot, the majority of the parking here is underground. This not only maintains the visual integrity of the church, but also leaves the land open for the garden, which is landscaped in the style of a pre-settlement indigenous ecosystem to provide diverse colour, depth and fauna habitats. This “eco-theology” is further reflected in preferential parking for those who car-pool or drive hybrid vehicles. Furthermore, because the Passionist church lures parishioners from more distant regions, and the church is located only a few hundred metres from nearby railway stations, visitors are encouraged to leave their cars at home. In these simple measures, the parishioners are actively embracing the universality of creation that the architecture of the church so embodies.

As well as serving its environmental and aesthetic purposes, the surrounding garden also hosts the “Stations of Our Cosmic Earth” installation. Situated along the garden path, the stations depict significant moments in the evolutionary story of the universe and the pilgrim journey of humankind within that story. The first stations depict the Big Bang, the coalescing of our solar system, the emergence of first life on Earth, and the evolution of humankind. At this point, the remains of an ancient tree are depicted, with branches resembling the image of the cross, with the copper cross from the roof of the original church in its branches. The fifth station represents the emergence of agriculture and settlement as a deep rift, separating humans from the rest of creation. This rift expands in the next station, to show the emergence of religion, which is then followed by the rise of science, in a symbolic atomic mushroom cloud. The final station is devoted to the resurrection scene, expressed in colourful Murano glass tile mosaics salvaged from the front face of the original Church. In a pleasing circularity and symmetry, it resembles the bursting forth of colour and light in the Big Bang of the first station, and also the birth of the Cenozoic Age sixty-five million years ago.

Beyond the garden lies the ‘piazza’, used for weddings, funerals and other seasonal outdoor events. In an architectural style connoting that of St Paul’s and St Peter’s Basilicas at the Passionist headquarters in Rome, the front wall of the narthex overlooking this piazza is articulated by a deeply recessed limestone arcade. Sourced in Manitoba, this unique limestone is distinguished by the fossilised ancient marine crustaceans embedded in its surface, representing the geological history of Canada and the whole of creation.

The narthex itself leads to a towering sky-lit living wall, which serves not only to bring life into the worship space, but also purifies the air of atmospheric pollutants and acts as a natural humidifier. It is this pure green view which greets parishioners from the parking space below, and welcomes them into the church. At the opposite end of the narthex is the outdoor water feature, which continues the Church’s sustainable environmental themes, supporting plant life within a constructed wetland. The judicious use of water continues throughout the Church, with drip irrigation systems, waterless urinals, dual-flush toilets and low-flow fittings in all sinks.

Realising its parishioners’ religious devotion to creation the new St Gabriel’s Passionist Parish Church transforms a spiritual belief into pragmatic - and beautiful - environmentally sustainable practices. In doing so, it is an inspiration to the devoted and the non-denominational alike.+

Top. During the Canadian winter, the glazed Southern facade admits natural light and warmth into the congregation space.

Second. Kaleidoscopic sunlight falls on the walls of the church, filtered and refracted by roof-level skylights.

Third. The design combines the modern trend towards raw features with the grand scale of a traditional church.

Bottom. Light enters in changing hues and from different angles depending on the time of day and the various seasons.

Images courtesy of Robert Chiotti, Steven Evans