Curved forms embrace the altar and lead the eye up to the heavens. The gilded pillar of their faith, the tabernacle holding the Holy Eucharist, is the centerpiece of the chapel and an axis of orientation for the entire seminary. It is a place of spiritual formation.

A walled garden extends the chapel outward to engage nature. It is a quiet outdoor space in the middle of an active urban environment. It is a place of human formation. Gardens throughout the site are places for the seminarians to reflect, to breath in life, and to think about man’s place in the world and our relationship with this fragile and remarkable planet.

The building has a sense of permanence in its design, yet remains open and connected to the outside world, where the people are that these future priests will be connecting with. Lounge spaces in the private dormitory allow views into the river valley and Edmonton city skyline. Seminarians can look beyond the building and towards the world they will be serving as priests.

There is a recurring theme of thirds in the building, reflecting the sets of 3s in many religions—in this case, the father, the son, and the Holy spirit. There are three intentional pieces of the building. The chapel is the most prominent and public space that celebrates the Holy Eucharist. The Refectory includes community spaces shared with the public. The Private Dormitory is where the seminarians and formation team reside. The triptych form arises from early Christian art, and was the standard format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages. 

The remarkable doors to the chapel were cast in bronze by local craftsman and tell the story of Jesus and the fisherman as relayed in the Gospel of John. The centre doors are glass to provide sightlines to the tabernacle at all times. The gilded pillar of their faith, the tabernacle holding the Holy Eucharist, is the centerpiece of the chapel and an axis of orientation for the entire seminary.

Fourteen stained glass windows made in France in the 1950s were carefully restored and transferred from the seminary’s previous location. The artistic windows gracefully paint jewel-toned light across the chapel walls. Leaving the chapel is as momentous as entering. The seven steps of priesthood are depicted in the panels grouped together above the chapel’s doors.

The understated white walls of the chapel provide a canvas for the stained glass windows to paint their light on. The structure was created entirely of cast-in-place exposed concrete. The chalk-white concrete was cast in one single, complex pour planned collaboratively between designers and architects over 18 months. The walls are 450mm thick, 11m high, and have a visually exposed area of over 700m². The result is a visual, structural and acoustic sanctuary worthy of this sacred space.

Traditional forms of church architecture—arches, buttresses, and side aisles—are reinterpreted with modern materials, especially structural steel, and play a vital role in the overall design. Peaked gothic arches uphold the structure around the chapel and frame each stained glass window.

The exterior material finishes draw from the character of the site and from St. Joseph’s Basilica, the flagship of the Edmonton Roman Catholic Archdiocese. The combination of stone, brick, metal, and glass provide a quiet, elegant palette. The composition of the materials expresses the three major elements in the seminary: the chapel, the community spaces, and the residence. Brick is laid in a one-third stagger, following the tripartite theme. Tyndal stone is laid in the same pattern as on the Basilica.

Opportunities to symbolize the Catholic faith were seized throughout the building. The chapel’s south wall has a recessed panel that shelters art. In this area, concrete forms were lined with linen to give texture to the wall. Linen represents the Shroud of Turin, the cloth used to wrap Jesus of Nazareth’s crucified body.