Home to Toronto’s oldest congregation, the Cathedral Church of St James is a landmark in Toronto’s St. Lawrence neighbourhood. Gabriel Mackinnon was invited to illuminate the cathedral to elevate its nocturnal appearance to match it’s importance in the landscape.  

Located at the corner of Church Street and Jarvis, it was built in 1853, and is a fine example of neo-gothic architecture. From 1874 to 1898 it held the honour of the tallest structure in Toronto, with a spire rising 305′. Our friends at ERA Architecture have been assisting the Cathedral in a multi-year comprehensive rehabilitation, and as experts in heritage lighting, the team at GMLD was brought in to assist with developing a lighting scheme that would maintain the heritage fabric of this important building.  

In 2011, Gabriel Mackinnon assisted the development of the Heritage Lighting Master Plan for Old Town Toronto. It has been one of our most successful master plan documents, with many of the projects designated for celebration via lighting being illuminated in years since. St James Cathedral was one of the buildings designated for illumination, and was selected to be part of a neighbourhood wide mockup that helped gain buy in with property owners, local residents, politicians and activists.  

At the request of the St James Cathedral organization, we commenced work on the project in 2017. The project was scoped and rendered to get community buy in and approval, which were used to gain approvals and assist with fundraising. Construction of the lighting system commenced in 2019, with the pandemic delaying the completion of several lighting elements until late 2021.

The photography was completed by the very talented Tom Arban in early 2022 and we are so thrilled to finally be able to share it with you.  

The existing pedestrian scale light poles on two sides of the church were used to floodlight the facade, with new poles added along the side facing the adjacent park. These poles allow the facade to be floodlit without impacting the heritage stonework. Since the facade is many layered with details, lights are included on the facade, mounted to mortar joints to preserve the integrity of the original and restored stonework.

Some details of the lighting design:

– Layers of light celebrate a historic cathedral within a busy urban streetscape, reinforcing the place of the church in the community and accelerating an ongoing neighbourhood revitalization.

– Cool white luminaires illuminate the oxidized copper spire, while warm light on the masonry composes a play of colour to best reveal each material.

– The bell tower is visible for blocks, with lighting at each level accentuating the vertical scale.

– Overall massing is revealed with luminaires at each group of windows.

– At the human scale, wood entry doors are highlighted with a warm glow from behind trefoil arches.

– Integrating modern lighting into a structure completed in 1853 was a technical challenge. Lighting is controlled over existing power lines, limiting impact to the heritage fabric, with all interventions mounted to mortar joints and fully reversible.

– Custom optics were developed, allowing reuse of historical fixture locations.

– High foot traffic and compact setbacks required careful coordination of post mounted lighting, complemented by precisely detailed façade mounted lighting.

Lighting scenes tailor the building’s presence to the tempo of the neighbourhood. Lighting levels peak during evening hours and religious holidays, lowering overnight, and responding to the use of the grounds and adjacent park by the unhoused. Cathedral staff have simple controls with automated annual scheduling. The warm illumination reflected from the church provides a welcoming backdrop to a vibrant urban life.

«
»