Holy Blossom Temple

Founded in 1856, Holy Blossom Temple is Toronto’s oldest Jewish congregation, with its Chapman and Oxley-designed romanesque revival sanctuary building dating to 1938. Its second building, an educational center, was built in 1960.

Located in former courtyard space between the temple’s sanctuary and school, the temple’s third building, completed in 2019, now offers an airy, light-filled steel and glass atrium rising four storeys to a large skylight above.

Unicel Architectural partnered with architect Diamond Schmiitt, general contractor Pomerleau, and glazier Merit Glass on the atrium, which will serve as the facility’s public entrance and community space. Unicel Architectural’s 2,465-square-foot skylight ensures an abundance of natural light and feeling of openness throughout the building, while also improving better social interaction and circulation between the facility’s two older buildings.

The glass-skinned atrium now provides a central space for the community while counterbalancing the reinforced concrete look of Holy Blossom Temple’s two older structures. The atrium’s curved, three-flight steel staircase provides a graceful sculptural feature within the atrium, while steel rail guards along the second and third floors feature embedded passages from the Hebrew Bible.

Varennes, Que.-based Mometal Structures and Toronto’s Blackwell Engineering took care of the project’s steel fabrication and structural engineering.