Our Lady Of Victory Church

About

Our Lady of Victory Church, often called the Igloo Church, is located on Mackenzie Road in downtown Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. It serves a Catholic parish of the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith. It was established in the mid-1950s, around the time Inuvik was being built; the church was opened and consecrated in 1960 after two years of construction. Brother Maurice Larocque, a Catholic missionary to the Arctic who had previously been a carpenter, designed the church despite a lack of any formal architectural training, sketching it on two sheets of plywood that are prominently displayed in the building's upper storeys. The round shape, which is painted to mimic an igloo, was chosen to mitigate possible structural damage that might be caused by frost heave. Its unique structural system, "a dome within a dome", further protects the church with a foundation consisting of a bowl-shaped concrete slab on a gravel bed atop the permafrost and, in the building itself, an intricate system of wooden arches to support the load. It is the only major building in Inuvik that does not rest on pilings. Wood for the church was floated down the Mackenzie River from Fort Smith, nearly 2,000 kilometres...

Our Lady of Victory is located on a lot at the eastern corner of the intersection of Mackenzie and Kingmingya roads in the centre of Inuvik. The surrounding neighbourhood is dominated by residential and commercial developments on similarly large lots, most no taller than two storeys and flat-roofed with thick walls and aluminum siding. Two blocks to the southeast is MacKenzie Square, Inuvik's main park.

The terrain rises gently towards the hills northeast of Inuvik from the east channel of the Mackenzie River delta 400 metres (1,300 ft) to the southeast; the church is located at roughly 20 metres (66 ft) above sea level. The church is set amid a lawn; a chainlink fence runs along the sidewalks at the southern and western sides of the lot; the latter has some evergreens and shrubs native to the area planted along the inside. On the northern side a utilidor, a narrow above-ground tunnel carrying gas and water lines, marks the rear line of the property.

A short asphalt walkway, lined with white stones, leads from Mackenzie to the church's main entrance pavilion. It is joined by a narrower one, similarly treated, that comes in from the east, connecting to the unpaved parking lot the church shares with the commercial building next door. Surrounding the church is a planting bed, also lined with white stone. The church's sign stands in its lawn to the south; a stone marker protesting legalized abortion is in the western quadrant. Two mature black spruce grow to the height of the pavilion roof on its north side; another one grows at the end of the row of shrubs along the utilidor at the east corner of the lot.

The church building itself is a circular timber frame structure 23 metres (75 ft) in diameter on a foundation of a reinforced concrete basement on a bowl-shaped concrete slab that itself sits on a metre-thick (3 ft) gravel bed atop the permafrost that is generally found at 2 metres (6 ft) underground at Inuvik's latitude. Its walls are faced in wood siding with large painted rectangular grooves creating an ashlar pattern. Secondary entrances project from the north and west sides of the building. Fenestration otherwise consists of small lancet windows flanked by narrower ones, set with stained glass ; there are three bays of these between the rear and front entrances and two between the rear entrances.

At the roofline is a cornice of laminated 5.1-by-25.4-centimetre (2 by 10 in) lumber. Affixed to it on the bays flanking the front entrance are wooden capital letters spelling out John 1:14: " And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. " Between the front and back two wooden corbels straddle the roofline, with a single one between the rear entrances.

The domed roof is sheathed in diamond-shaped aluminum scales. Ribs delineate each of the building's bays. At the centre of the dome is a round 6.1-metre-wide (20 ft) cupola, set with very narrow stained glass windows divided by projecting wooden strips. Two loudspeaker megaphones project from its east and west sides. Atop its similarly treated domed aluminum roof is a 2.7-metre-high (9 ft) wooden blue cross. It has light bulbs and is illuminated, along with the cupola interior, during the winter months.

Open wooden steps lead up from the front walkway to the front- gabled entrance pavilion. The main entrance, on a slightly projecting middle section with a gabled top that rises slightly higher, is topped by a Gothic arched transom set with tinted glass divided by two mullions curving outwards. It is flanked near its point by two modern light fixtures. In the entablature above it is a wooden "IHS" Christogram from the middle of which rises the vertical line of a wooden cross at the gable apex.

On either side of the entrance section are recessed narrow Gothic arched windows in molded surrounds set with tinted glass, one horizontal mullion at centre and two curved ones curving inward from the edges, in contrast to those on the entrance transom. On each side of the pavilion is a similarly treated, narrower window. At the roofline of the entrance pavilion is a plain frieze ; above it on either side of the entrance projection are louvered vents. At the eaves of the roof a flap of wood hangs down, broad near the bottom and narrow at the top, following the surround of the vents beneath. Behind the pavilion is a more gently pitched engaged gabled face with vertica battens. The northern entrance has a similar pavilion with an intertwined, stylized "AM" in the place of the Christogram, and no cross. At the northeast a smaller wooden-sided utilidor connects to the municipal one behind it. The northeast entrance pavilion has a different wooden decoration on its entablature.

All three entrances use heavy, opaque, modern metal doors. On the inside, the sanctuary has curved rows of wooden pews on a hardwood floor divided by a central aisle that offers seating for 350. Laminated wooden buttresses flank all the windows; in between them are the painted Stations of the Cross. Every third buttress is heavier and thicker. The walls are finished in shiplap below the windowsill level; above that a chair rail sets off a finish of grooved rectangles similar to those on the exterior.

At the northeast end the altar and baptismal font sit on a dais. Behind the altar is a round-arched alcove faced in shiplap below the springline; above it are the same block motif as the interior and exterior walls. Two small statues of Christ sit on pedestals fronting either side. On the back of the alcove is a crucifix with a sunburst pattern above.

The larger buttresses support the 12 main laminated wooden ceiling vaults, which widen to 3.0 metres (10 ft) at their uppermost. Between them is the same block pattern. They meet at a central rosette below the cupola, bordered by small windows that let natural light in. A ceiling fan hangs nearby. Wooden stairs from behind the altar lead up to the cupola from the sanctuary, which has an aluminum ceiling.

The church building itself is a circular timber frame structure 23 metres (75 ft) in diameter on a foundation of a reinforced concrete basement on a bowl-shaped concrete slab that itself sits on a metre-thick (3 ft) gravel bed atop the permafrost that is generally found at 2 metres (6 ft) underground at Inuvik's latitude. Its walls are faced in wood siding with large painted rectangular grooves creating an ashlar pattern. Secondary entrances project from the north and west sides of the building. Fenestration otherwise consists of small lancet windows flanked by narrower ones, set with stained glass ; there are three bays of these between the rear and front entrances and two between the rear entrances.

At the roofline is a cornice of laminated 5.1-by-25.4-centimetre (2 by 10 in) lumber. Affixed to it on the bays flanking the front entrance are wooden capital letters spelling out John 1:14: " And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. " Between the front and back two wooden corbels straddle the roofline, with a single one between the rear entrances.

The domed roof is sheathed in diamond-shaped aluminum scales. Ribs delineate each of the building's bays. At the centre of the dome is a round 6.1-metre-wide (20 ft) cupola, set with very narrow stained glass windows divided by projecting wooden strips. Two loudspeaker megaphones project from its east and west sides. Atop its similarly treated domed aluminum roof is a 2.7-metre-high (9 ft) wooden blue cross. It has light bulbs and is illuminated, along with the cupola interior, during the winter months.

Open wooden steps lead up from the front walkway to the front- gabled entrance pavilion. The main entrance, on a slightly projecting middle section with a gabled top that rises slightly higher, is topped by a Gothic arched transom set with tinted glass divided by two mullions curving outwards. It is flanked near its point by two modern light fixtures. In the entablature above it is a wooden "IHS" Christogram from the middle of which rises the vertical line of a wooden cross at the gable apex.

On either side of the entrance section are recessed narrow Gothic arched windows in molded surrounds set with tinted glass, one horizontal mullion at centre and two curved ones curving inward from the edges, in contrast to those on the entrance transom. On each side of the pavilion is a similarly treated, narrower window. At the roofline of the entrance pavilion is a plain frieze ; above it on either side of the entrance projection are louvered vents. At the eaves of the roof a flap of wood hangs down, broad near the bottom and narrow at the top, following the surround of the vents beneath. Behind the pavilion is a more gently pitched engaged gabled face with vertica battens. The northern entrance has a similar pavilion with an intertwined, stylized "AM" in the place of the Christogram, and no cross. At the northeast a smaller wooden-sided utilidor connects to the municipal one behind it. The northeast entrance pavilion has a different wooden decoration on its entablature.

All three entrances use heavy, opaque, modern metal doors. On the inside, the sanctuary has curved rows of wooden pews on a hardwood floor divided by a central aisle that offers seating for 350. Laminated wooden buttresses flank all the windows; in between them are the painted Stations of the Cross. Every third buttress is heavier and thicker. The walls are finished in shiplap below the windowsill level; above that a chair rail sets off a finish of grooved rectangles similar to those on the exterior.

At the northeast end the altar and baptismal font sit on a dais. Behind the altar is a round-arched alcove faced in shiplap below the springline; above it are the same block motif as the interior and exterior walls. Two small statues of Christ sit on pedestals fronting either side. On the back of the alcove is a crucifix with a sunburst pattern above.

The larger buttresses support the 12 main laminated wooden ceiling vaults, which widen to 3.0 metres (10 ft) at their uppermost. Between them is the same block pattern. They meet at a central rosette below the cupola, bordered by small windows that let natural light in. A ceiling fan hangs nearby. Wooden stairs from behind the altar lead up to the cupola from the sanctuary, which has an aluminum ceiling.