By SooToday.com Staff
SooToday.com
Friday, November 17, 2006

NEWS RELEASE

ST. GABRIEL OF THE SORROWFUL VIRGIN PARISH

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TORONTO, November 17 - Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, Archbishop of Toronto today consecrated Canada's first environmentally sustainable church, St. Gabriel, located in North York, Ontario.

The new Roman Catholic church replaces the original St. Gabriel that opened in 1953 that was part of the Passionist Canadian seminary and community located at the site.

The new $10.5 million south facing structure designed by the team of Roberto Chiotti and Kevin Weiss of Larkin Architects Toronto carefully followed the design mandate of the Passionist community to create an environmentally friendly structure that connects with the sacredness of the Earth and the elegance of the universe, with emphasis on the mystery of the natural world.

Worshipers are directed to the outdoor perennial gardens, just beyond the massive clear-glass south facing wall.

Light animates the interior space, streaming through the coloured skylights that cause a refracted rainbow to fall on the interior concrete walls. Pews are arranged facing each other with a large sacred axis space to allow the celebrant to travel from the baptismal font, to the marble ambo, the altar and the Blessed Sacrament chapel.

The link with the original church is strong with many items restored and sized to fit seamlessly in the new narthex and worship space.

These include the marble altar, ambo and baptismal font, the refurbished tabernacle and oak pews, the wood and gilded Way of the Cross and the original five stained glass windows in the gathering space.

Most parking is underground and the roof of the underground parking is the new perennial garden featuring beech trees, black spruce and columnar oaks.

In place of a parish hall there is a large gathering space along the east side of the main church which also connects to nature with its living wall of plants being regularly irrigated by recycled water.

The new St. Gabriel affirms and emphasizes the warm and inclusive sense found in the parish community over the years as it links the community of faith with the community of Earth.

While the sun plays through skylights in the worship space, the Garden is not simply beautiful, but also instructive about humans' interrelationship with all living beings.

The emphasis of the new church is the connection between humankind and the rest of creation stressing the beauty and wonder of creation within the life of all communities sharing the Earth.

This new church is presently registered for a silver rating by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

Design highlights include:

- to consecrate this first of a kind church in Canada

- building designed to connect the sacredness of the Earth with emphasis on the natural world

- massive south facing cantilevered clear glass wall that connects worshipers with nature

- perennial garden built on top of underground parking, irrigated by rain water collected from the cantilevered canopy roof

- interior living wall of plants, regularly irrigated by recycled water

- pews arranged to face each other allowing worshipers close proximity to the north south sacred axis space

- registered for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building rating

- owner: Passionist Community Canada - Father Paul Cusack, pastor (416) 221-8866

- architect: Larkin Architect Limited - Roberto Chiotti & Kevin Weiss

- general contractor: Martin-Stewart Contracting Limited

- landscape architect: Ian Gray & Associates

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