Floor plan of the building.  From left to right: basement plan, ground floor plan, second floor plan.  The building above grade was designed so that it matched the length and width of the building were equal to the the Golden Rectangle, that is the building has a length to width ratio of 1:1.1618.  The main chapel (a double height space) in relation to the ground floor also adheres to this principle, as well as the dimensions of the private chapel below grade.

Orientation of the site.

East (bottom) and West (top) elevations of the project.  The glass facade in conjunction with the reveal in the facade denotes the 1:1.1618 ratio typical of the Golden Section, as well as serves as a visual barrier that seperates the main chapel from the rest of the program space, on the exterior of the building.  The building is made of a poured concrete structure, and clad in concrete panels for the purest, most raw form on the interior of the building.

North (bottom) and South (top) elevations for the project.

North-South section of the project.  The main chapel (far left) lit by a multitude of dim, individual lights and the private chapel (bottom left) lit by a shaft that continues through to the top of the building are visible.

Exterior vignette of the project showing the North and East facades.

Interior vignette of the stairwell looking East.

Interior vignette of the Main Chapel space.  Notice no view to the exterior world is available, and the only illumination comes from the many individual hanging lights.  Ideally many of the lights would be able to continue almost all the way to the floor, allowing the user to experience the lights at all heights, however building code restrictions prevent this in Ontario.  The reasoning was that space was to function as a microcosm of a galaxy or star cluster, where a person would be able to experience something that is normally outside of our realm of comprehension.

Interior vignette of the Private Chapel space.  The space is only illuminated by the shaft of light from above.  The chapel functions as the most primitive of meditative spaces, where only the basics of a room exist.  Located on the basement level, the idea is that a person must first look down, into themselves, before they can begin to understand that which is around (or in the case of the Main Chapel) above them.