Résidence des Soeurs de la Sainte Famille

More Information

151 Avenue de la Cathédrale was constructed as a residence for Les Soeurs de la Sainte Famille in 1964. Les Soeurs de la Sainte Famille (the Little Sisters of the Holy Family) is a Canadian religious community that was founded in Québec by Marie-Léonie Paradis in 1880. (Marie-Léonie Paradis was beatified by the Catholic Church on September 11, 1984 in Montréal.) The Sisters’ mission is to support the mission of evangelisation undertaken by Roman Catholic priests. Les Soeurs de la Sainte Famille first operated in Manitoba in 1912, though they no longer function as a group in the province.

Facing Avenue de la Cathédrale, the residence presents the face of its chapel, housed in a curved nearly windowless enclosure; residential spaces sit in the rectangular block to the north. In many respects the design conceived by Étienne Gaboury for this structure is echoed by his later St. Boniface Cathedral Parish and Cemetery Office located across the street. In both cases the buildings are clad in a greyish buff-toned brick and feature mostly small but inventively shaped and placed windows. These include a variety of arched windows and slender slitted windows dividing the structure into separate forms. This creative use of windows to add interest to largely solid forms is a trademark element in the work of Gaboury.