St. Luke's Anglican Church

St. Luke's Anglican Church. . The edifice of St. Luke's Anglican Church is a distinctive example of modernist church architecture. Built in 1958, in the postwar period, new construction materials and techniques ushered in novel, bold, and expressive forms of church design. St. Luke's expresses modernist principles and aesthetics through sparse ornamentation and geometric forms. While boasting certain conventional elements of church design, including a bell tower and stained glass, the architect used concrete in non-traditional ways. The sanctuary's east wall is made of concrete blocks that create textural symmetrical patterns and the distinctive bell tower is also constructed of concrete blocks., St. Luke's Anglican Church is significant for its association with notable Edmonton architect Kelvin Crawford Stanley. Stanley practiced in Edmonton between 1948 and 1964, designing several important public buildings including the former Edmonton City Hall, the former Edmonton Post Office, and the Paramount Theater. Between 1965 and 1967, Stanley worked as the Director of Structures for Expo '67 in Montreal before becoming the Chief Architect for the Federal Department of Public Works in Ottawa., In the decades following the Second World War, Edmonton experience major economic growth, the postwar baby boom, and growing popularity of automobiles that resulted in southside suburbs expanding rapidly. St. Luke's Anglican Church is also a significant landmark associated with the development of the Holyrood, Stratheam, and Bonnie Doon neighbourhoods. In the style of the times, St. Luke's Anglican Church served as a spiritual and social hub for these emerging communities.