OA A AWA R D S 2017
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The excellence of architect Arthur Townend’s chapel design is unmistakable to those that have experienced it. Since its construction by the Anglican Church in 1968, this small structure has provided a sacred space to students at Thornloe and Laurentian Universities in Sudbury. On a campus defined by its rocky hilltops, the chapel occupies the highest elevation. Arriving at its entrance at the top of the hill, a surprising thing happens: visitors descend back into the earth, as the thick triangular concrete walls of the structure reach upward as an extension of the hilltop. From this protected recess, visitors pass through the doors into the chapel and encounter an intimate space filled with the presence of transcendent blue light. Barely large enough to fit 14 chairs and an altar, this intimate sanctuary parallels the intimate knowledge required to read the embedded religious symbolism within the architecture. A series of seven concrete walls, placed in an ascending spiral formation, enclose the one-room building. The entrance is located at the point of greatest contrast between the lowest and highest walls. The latter points directly to the east, to the rising sun and to the prophesized direction of the returning Messiah. The seven walls recall the seventh day of creation, described in the Book of Genesis as the Sabbath when God rested. In Revelations, the last book of the Christian Bible, salvation for the church takes place following the seventh trumpet call by the seventh angel. Light enters the sanctuary through stained glass openings between the concrete walls. The movement of the sun from east to west transforms the colour of the light in the sanctuary. In the early morning the light is coloured a deep blue. At midday, it is cyan, and in the early evening, it is yellow. The changing atmosphere in the sanctuary links worshippers to the cyclical movement of the heavens. The architectural quality and conceptual clarity of The Fielding Memorial Chapel of St. Mark place it among the finest buildings in Ontario. Its use as a case study building by students at the Laurentian University School of Architecture is further evidence of its importance to current and future generations.
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WINNER
THE FIELDING MEMORIAL CHAPEL OF ST. MARK, THORNELOE UNIVERSITY, SUDBURY TOWNEND STEFURA & BALESHTA ARCHITECTS
LANDMARK DESIGNATION
JURY’S COMMENT
This is a simple yet striking gem of a building. The chapel space is poetic and serene; a perfect respite for the students of the University. Enduringly powerful and eloquent in its singularity, this modest yet emotional building exemplifies the landmark award category in its purest form. The Memorial Chapel of St. Mark would be noticed anywhere for its beauty of form and contribution to the public realm. In Sudbury, it is a very special landmark on the Thornloe University Campus.
2017-05-03 12:12 PM