Byzantine in Ottawa | Dominion-Chalmers United Church

The history of Dominion-Chalmers United Church (Chalmers Presbyterian) is a history of construction, destruction, mobility, and amalgamation. As the church body prepares for a momentous shift once again, this paper examines the forces of faith, style, and practicality that resulted in this dynamic and historically wealthy congregation commissioning the 1912 Romanesque and Byzantine Revival gem that stands today. A late example of Alexander C. Hutchison’s work, Dominion-Chalmers represents one of the Montreal architect’s most cohesive amphitheatre plan churches, expertly marrying architectural detail to practical considerations for liturgical function, seating, sightlines, and acoustics. I draw specifically on the work of Jeanne Halgren Kilde, as well as Candace Iron’s interpretation of Thomas John Rutley’s work in my assessment of how the multisensory characteristics of this space function and were considered by the architect and building committee in relation to both the needs of the congregation and the architectural precedents from which Hutchison drew inspiration. Hutchison is a monumental figure in the landscape of Canadian architecture whose oeuvre is presently met with a dearth of scholarship. With a career featuring commissions for approximately 33 churches from among 225 architectural projects, this paper marks the start of my dissertation research into Hutchison’s ecclesiastical designs and their multisensory properties.