Matthew Bruins in front of the wooden door that he created.
Coming up with the idea for a culminating woodworking project in his final semester at Algonquin College wasn't easy for Matthew Bruins. "I was set on doing a door, for some reason. I don't know why," the recent graduate of the Heritage Carpentry and Joinery Program recalled. "I've seen some cool doors and I enjoyed the first door project we did earlier in the semester."
The college's two-year program focuses on traditional carpentry and joinery such as timber framing, log building and architectural millwork, as well as restoration and preservation techniques. Instructor Jim Stinson described the final project as one that not only speaks to the students' interests, but also allows them to demonstrate the knowledge and skills acquired through the program's joinery component. After choosing a piece of existing architectural millwork to explore, the students record and document it, then reproduce it to scale.
"I had a really hard time actually finding this door, in particular," Matt said. "I was just [searching the Internet for] doors in Ottawa trying to find a … cathedral door or something like that." One of the images that popped up on Matt's screen caught his attention. He was captivated by an elaborately-carved door on the Macdonald-Harrington Building at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
Initially, his instructors were less than enthusiastic about his choice.
Jack Hollinger, program coordinator, said their reluctance was no reflection on Matt's abilities; instead, they were simply concerned about the amount of time required to complete such an elaborately carved reproduction. "It was just nonsense to think that it could be completed within the 72 hours allocated for the project," Jack said.
