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Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel sanctuary

Just months after architect Duncan Stroik won a Palladio Award for his work on 黑料不打烊鈥檚 California chapel, the architects who redesigned the building鈥檚 New England counterpart have claimed a coveted prize of their own.

The (ICAA) has awarded to alumnus architect Anthony Grumbine (鈥00) and his colleagues at Harrison Design for their renovation of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel on the Northfield, Massachusetts, campus. The award, given in the category of Ecclesiastic Design, will be presented at an October 29 celebration at the Harvard Club in Boston.

For 20 years the ICAA has carried out its mission of promoting 鈥渢he appreciation and practice of traditional architecture and its allied arts.鈥 Its Bulfinch Awards, 鈥渘amed for Boston architect Charles Bulfinch (1763-1844), America鈥檚 first native-born architect,鈥 advance that mission in the New England region, where the erstwhile Sage Chapel has stood since 1909.

The College took ownership of its East Coast campus, which formerly belonged to a nondenominational preparatory school, in 2017. Shortly thereafter, it contracted Harrison Design to transform the building for Catholic worship. Mr. Grumbine and colleague Nic Charbonneau were thrilled to take up the challenge of breathing new life into a beautiful neo-Gothic building, while also preserving its elegance and heritage. 鈥淚t was like a fireworks show,鈥 explains Mr. Grumbine. 鈥淭he main show was already there. We just had to add the grand finale.鈥

Renovations for the Chapel included the installation of a tabernacle, kneelers, a central aisle for liturgical processions, confessionals, a permanent altar and altar rail, Stations of the Cross, and a high altar and reredos. With the help of John Canning & Co., Mr. Grumbine and Mr. Charbonneau鈥檚 vision came to life in vivid color and detail. 鈥淐anning did a magnificent job with the interior artwork, stenciling, and color selection,鈥 says Mr. Charbonneau. 鈥淭he colors really help to unify the entire space.鈥

In addition to its stylistic fidelity, a deeper continuity pervades the fully renovated chapel. Both Mr. Grumbine and Mr. Charbonneau studied at the University of Notre Dame鈥檚 School of Architecture under Mr. Stroik, who designed Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel on the California campus. These former students, while faithful to Sage Chapel鈥檚 vernacular, sprinkled visual echoes of Mr. Stroik鈥檚 design for California throughout their renovation design for New England. 鈥淭he altar gates, for example, are similar,鈥 notes Mr. Grumbine. 鈥淚n New England, they鈥檙e a Gothic play on the California chapel鈥檚 gates, which have an alpha and omega.鈥

Both architects are pleased with the final result. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an order-in-exuberance to both chapels,鈥 observes Mr. Grumbine. This shared exuberance, Mr. Charbonneau adds, is a testament to the College鈥檚 single-minded architectural patronage. 鈥満诹喜淮蜢 has a real clarity about what is central to the mission of the school: The Catholic faith.鈥

Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel altar gate