‘Space for prayer’ in the heart of the city

Sydney
27 April 2003

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‘Space for prayer’ in the heart of the city

‘Space for prayer’ in the heart of the city

Iincense is used to consecrate the new chapel so that it might “fill the world with the glory of Christ” below: the 12th century style crucifix above the altar

By Johanna Bennett

How do you create a chapel in a 1970s bank which has been refitted 21st century style?

This was the challenge that faced Fr Don Richardson and the architects charged with creating a chapel for the new Polding Centre in Liverpool St, Sydney - the new archdiocesan headquarters.

Fr Don, the archdiocese’s Master of Ceremonies, said he wanted “to create a place that was prayerful, but that was also connected to the building. You could not have something Gothic, my preference, in a 70s office building with a 21st century refit”.

The result is a modern chapel rendered in beautiful natural materials - wood, stone and stained glass - but so simple in style that it verges on the austere, although it is also rather beautiful.

The austerity is deliberate, says Fr Don. People working in the building will be surrounded by computers, paper and phones; all very busy.

“The chapel will, hopefully, be a place which in its simplicity will provide some space for prayer and reflection,” he says.

The new Chapel of Our Lady - which was blessed by Archbishop George Pell last week - also, unusually, houses the relics of three Benedictine saints: St Benedict himself, St Gregory and St Scholastica. They are sealed into the polished white sandstone altar.

While it is not unusual for a church altar to contain relics, it is not so common for a small chapel to house them. Those housed in the new chapel came from St Mary’s Cathedral, which is home to a number of saints’ relics.

“We wanted to show that the chapel is important and that the celebration of the Eucharist is at the heart of what is meant to happen in the Church’s offices,” says Fr Don.

Benedictine saints’ relics were chosen because Sydney’s first archbishop, Archbishop Polding, was a Benedictine.

The chapel features modern but reverent touches, including a curved, free-standing wooden arch over the altar - a modern version of a traditional altar canopy. The abstract stained glass windows are in green, for growth; blue, for transcendence, and white, which symbolises faith.

The hand-crafted icon style crucifix above the altar, commissioned from the Magnif-icat Studio in Padua, Italy, is carved from 100-year-old walnut and painted with natural pigments and gold leaf. It is a miniature of a 12th century Italian crucifix by Cimabue that hangs in the Church of San Domenico in Arezzo.

Fr Don did not know how much the chapel cost, which he said Dr Pell briefed him to commission from architects Davenport Campbell.

At the blessing the arch-bishop told the 100-plus congregation he hoped the chapel would be an encouragement for those working at the new Polding Centre. “I pray that the spirit of service will always be strong with you.”