St. Mark’s Anglican Church

  • St. Mark's Anglican Church

    North elevation of the original building

  • St. Mark's Anglican Church

    Looking northwest towards the original building with the projecting eave of the addition in the foreground

  • St. Mark's Anglican Church

    Highlighting the roof offset

  • St. Mark's Anglican Church

    Relationship between the original portion (right) and the hall addition (left)

  • St. Mark's Anglican Church

    Looking northwest towards the entry vestibule

  • St. Mark's Anglican Church

    Fisher Avenue landscaped forecourt with the enclosed breezeway in the background

  • St. Mark's Anglican Church

    Contemporary bell installation within the Fisher Avenue landscaped forecourt

  • St. Mark's Anglican Church

    East elevation glazing detail

  • St. Mark's Anglican Church

    West elevation of the original building (end of alter space)

  • St. Mark's Anglican Church

    South facing solar panels installed with a cross motif

Address
1606 Fisher Ave, Ottawa, ON
Designer
Year(s)
1955

Originally the church was completed as a modest A-frame church with glazing within the upper portion of the east end wall.  From the exterior the most distinctive feature is the offset between the east and west portions of the roof.  The offset marks the division between the nave and the alter areas and bathes the alter in morning light from the east.

Worshipers enter the building from the east and are encouraged westward through the compressed space of the protruding vestibule into the building’s primary space, its sanctuary.  Although the sanctuary is a simple linear and architecturally uncluttered volume the vertical uplift associated with the A-frame structure effectively guides worshipers to the heavens on entry.  To use light to the greatest effect windows are limited to the upper portion of the east end wall reinforcing the dominant linear access.  Materials within the space are kept to the limited palette of tongue and groove wood and exposed wood structure, providing a sense of warmth and welcoming to the space within.

A wing to the south of the original building was added in 1966 to provide additional space for a large hall and other ancillary spaces.  To avoid competing with the sanctuary, the addition is connected to the original building by a low enclosed breezeway and is itself kept modest with a low-slope gable end roof oriented in the same direction as the original building.  To complete the composition, the resultant exterior space fronting onto Fisher Avenue is landscaped with a contemporary bell installation acting as the visual anchor for the space.

Recent modifications including new roofing and solar panels do not diminish the clarity of the architecture.