New Facility on Canada

By the 1990s, the Abbot of the Oka monastery at that time, Yvon-Joseph Moreau, was faced with a difficult situation. He would either encourage the monks to support a major renovation of their original monastery, or begin the process of designing a completely new facility that would more appropriately reflect their needs. Abbot Moreau had to consider not just whether a new building made sense financially, but whether it made sense according to the spiritual vision of his order. In 2003, a decision was made: a new location

would become the proper spiritual home of the community.

Fortunately, the monks had the financial resources to enable them to consider a new facility that would not only serve their daily needs but stand as a highly engaging and elegant example of contemporary architecture. An hour’s drive northeast of Montreal, a new parcel of land was purchased in a quiet valley off Highway 131 near St-Jean-de-Matha. Through the assistance of Philippe Drolet’s firm PHD Architecture in Montreal, a preliminary design brief and competition was launched and eventually won by Pierre Thibault. There were many merits to Thibault’s design, but the most significant was the masterful attention paid to the monastery’s environment and his understanding of the special relationship between a monastery’s institutional programmatic requirements and the need for a contemplative space where religious men will spend their entire lives. Three key details were resolved in Thibault’s design and siting for the monastery: local materials, simplicity, and above all, the presence of light. It is a fact that the presence of light in Cistercian life has been significantly explored in Cistercian architectural history.

Saint Bernard, the most significant theologian in this field of study, discouraged superfluous decoration in interiors, but he did encourage the presence of light. And although Bernard considered colour a distraction, light inspired the soul to deeper spiritual contemplations. Consequently, one of the most important elements in the new facility is the way in which light helps sculpt and define the new architecture. Since the monks spend much of the day in worship (seven extended prayer times spread out from early morning until early evening), it was especially important to have a well-lit chapel in the new building. Each monk’s cell also has a large window overlooking the surrounding landscape and a floor-to-ceiling glazed passageway encircling the inner courtyard, which gives the monks a sensation of being outside yearround. For those monks who had lived for a considerable time at the former monastery (more than 50 years for some), the new monastery has had a positive effect on their daily routines and
on their spiritual experience.

The new Abbot, André Barbeau, is clear in his intentions for the community: it will not be a priority to recruit more monks and return to bygone days. Rather, Barbeau believes that it is important to promote a rich consecrated life in a setting that is more suitable to the current number of monks at the new facility, thereby ensuring that their new building will remain vital and intimate. Thibault’s monastery is extraordinary, garnering considerable media attention. The attention to detail and the gravity with which every decision was made allows this project an intimate link between function and beauty. In a culture that increasingly assumes that religious communities like the Cistercian monks are relics from the past, this new monastery is proof that a religious community can lead into the future, in this instance by successfully commissioning vibrant and contemporary architecture that supports their religious and cultural traditions. Ca Jason Zuidema is a Lecturer in Christian Spirituality at Concordia University in Montreal.

cLient commuNauté De l’abbaye Val Notre-Dame
architect teaM Pierre thibault, JeaN-fraNçoiS mercier, aNDré
limogeS, VaDim Siegel, JoSePh-marie tremblay
structuraL Nicolet, chartraND, kNoll
MechanicaL/eLectricaL DuPraS leDoux
Landscape atelier Pierre thibault
interiors atelier Pierre thibault
contractor berNarD malo iNc.
area 5,800 m2
budget WithhelD
coMpLetion october 2009