The St. Julian Multi-faith Hub is a masterplanned community designed by SvN. Located in Ottawa, Ontario, the two-acre site is the historic home of the St. Julian of Norwich Church, a parish within the Anglican Church’s Diocese of Ottawa. The Church community initiated the renewal project with the intent to replace their 1960s-built Church structure with a contemporary facility that could accommodate a wider range of community, worship, and multi-faith events and programs. The Church secured the interest of two affordable housing partners to participate in the development: Cahdco, a developer of affordable ownership housing affiliated with Centretown Citizens’ Ottawa Corporation (CCOC); and Multifaith Housing Initiative (MHI), a developer and operator of supportive affordable rental housing.

The masterplan incorporates 70 rent-geared to income (RGI) affordable rental units, up to 120 affordable ownership condominium units for Cahdco, a new home for L’Arche’s Nepean services hub, and a new Church and event centre inclusive of a co-work hub, cafe, and multi-program spaces for use by all community residents and partners.

The masterplan was built around a singular idea: sharing and cooperation. Entitled “Stone Soup,” the original masterplan concept envisioned a shared ground floor used by all three users that addressed the specific needs of each group while giving each owner access to unique amenities that they could not have afforded to develop or operate on their own. SvN’s proposal, that was adopted by the clients’, envisioned a plan that would facilitate community, positive social exchanges, enhanced physical and emotional well-being, and unique opportunities to exchange ideas and services with neighbours.

The masterplan takes advantage of it’s unique ‘three-frontage’ exposure and high visibility along busy Merivale Avenue to create two unique publicly accessible spaces: a gateway plaza fronting onto Merivale through which all residents and visitors enter the site, and an internal resident’s garden that will accommodate a mix of outdoor program areas and allotment garden plots. The design of the communities four buildings was completed such that the structure fold to allow maximum sunlight to reach the gardens, while shielding the sensitive outdoor spaces from late fall and winter winds.

St. Julian Multi-faith Hub is being completed in collaboration with Ottawa-based Christopher Simmonds Architects. SvN won the contract along with CSA through a design competition in 2019.