Sarra-Bournet, Lucien (1896-1992) began his career as an engineer and architect in Montreal, but later moved to St. Hyacinthe, then to Hull, Quebec. Born in Ottawa, Ont. on 8 April 1896, he studied at the Mont Saint-Louis School, and graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal in 1918. He worked as a civil engineer for the Dominion Bridge Co. in Montreal, then established his own professional office in St. Hyacinthe, Que. From 1930 to 1934 he worked as a builder and contractor for new Roman Catholic churches in Rougemont, Granby, Lanoraie, St. Esprit (Montcalm Co.), and at St. Simon (Bagot Co.). In 1937 he moved to Hull, Que. to open his own office as an architect, and that same year he obtained a major commission to design the new federal Armoury Building there. Drawing inspiration from the classic chateau style of 18th C. France, Sarra-Bournet offered a modern interpretation with a monumental stone entry framed by projecting turrets and refined brick and stone detailing throughout. At the time of its completion in 1939, it was described as the finest drill hall facility in Canada (C.R., lii, 17 May 1939, 9-10, descrip. & illus.). Many of his commissions for educational and ecclesiastical works were provided to him by the local Roman Catholic Diocese in Hull, and by 1950 he had adopted a modernist vocabulary for his designs of new church buildings.
After 1960, he was in partnership in Hull, Que. with D'Arcy Audet, as Sarra-Bournet & Audet, Architects. Sarra-Bournet resigned from the P.Q.A.A. in 1969, and later retired from the Ontario Assoc. of Architects in 1970. He died in Aylmer, Quebec on 19 October 1992 (obituary Ottawa Citizen, 23 October 1992, page D 12; biog. and port in Personalities de Chez Nous [Le Progres de Hull Pub. Co.], 1946, 98-100; inf. from Ontario Assoc. of Architects; inf. Province of Quebec Assoc. of Architects).
LACHINE, QUE., row of three house for R. Deslauriers, 32nd Avenue at St. Joseph Street, 1923 (Le Prix Courant [Montreal], lvi, 7 Sept. 1923, 29)
LACHINE, QUE., a large tract of 80 houses for the Metropolitan Housing Co., 1923 (Le Prix Courant [Montreal], lvi, 14 Sept. 1923, 10)
LACHINE, QUE., pair of houses for N. Cageorge, 1923 (Le Prix Courant [Montreal], lvi, 5 Oct. 1923, 46)
(works in Hull, Que. unless noted)
DE SALABERRY ARMOURY, for the Federal Dept. of National Defence, Aylmer Road (now Alexander Tache Boulevard) at St. Joseph Boulevard, 1938-39 (C.R., Vol. 50, 17 Nov. 1937, 32, t.c.; and lii, 17 May 1939, 9-10, descrip. and illus.; Ottawa Journal, 29 Sept. 1937, 14, descrip.; and 30 Sept. 1937, 15, illus. & descrip.; and 1 April 1938, 14; and 28 Jan. 1939, 21, illus. & descrip.; Andrew Waldron, Exploring the Capital: An Architectural Guide to the Ottawa-Gatineau Region, 2017, 196-7, illus. & descrip.)
ST. JEAN BREBOEUF ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, 1938 (C.R., li, 18 May 1938, 182)
VAL TETREAU, Duhault Roman Catholic School, 1938; major addition, 1939 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 1 June 1938, 11; and 9 April 1939, 12)
STE. BERNADETTE PARISH, Roman Catholic School, Lotbiniere Street near Montcalm Street, 1938 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 1 June 1938, 11; and 27 Aug. 1938, 5)
STE. BERNADETTE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Carillon Street at Lotbiniere Street, 1938-39 (Ottawa Journal, 17 Oct. 1938, 15)
NOTRE DAME DE LORETTE PARISH, Roman Catholic School, adjoining the Parish Church, 1938 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 27 Aug. 1938, 5)
CARRIERE Roman Catholic School, in the St. Redempteur parish, 1938 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 1 June 1938, 11)
WRIGHTVILLE, addition to St. Joseph's Roman Catholic School, 1938 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 1 June 1938, 11)
WRIGHTVILLE, addition to Larocque Roman Catholic School, 1938 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 1 June 1938, 11)
GATINEAU MILLS, QUE., Post Office and Dominion Public Building, 1939-40 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 5 Aug. 1939, 19, descrip.; and 5 Jan. 1940, 3)
HULL CIVIC CENTRE & HOCKEY ARENA, Laurier Avenue, east of the Alexandra Bridge, 1940 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 27 April 1940, 13, illus. & descrip.)
LAC AU SAUMON, QUE., a Roman Catholic novitiate for the Fathers of St. Esprit, 1941 (C.R., liv, 16 April 1941, 31, t.c.)
LAROCQUE ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, Berry Street near Caron Street, major addition of four classrooms, 1944 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 6 May 1944, 23, t.c.)
SOEURS DE LA PROVIDENCE ROMAN CATHOLIC HOSPITAL & NURSES’ HOME, 1947-49 (C.R., lx, Oct. 1947, 186; and lxi, Dec. 1948, 102)
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, for the Oblate Fathers, 1947-48 (C.R., lx, Oct. 1947, 186)
POINTE GATINEAU, QUE., Roman Catholic school, 1947-48 (C.R., lx, Oct. 1947, 188)
SACRED HEART ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH [now called Notre Dame de I’ile Church], Sacre Coeur Boulevard, 1949 (C.R., lxii, April 1949, 155; Ottawa Journal, 24 Oct. 1949, 11, descrip.)
ST. JOSEPH'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND PRESBYTERY, St. Joseph Boulevard near Taschereau Street, Wrightville, West Hull, 1950-52 (C.R., lxiii, Feb. 1950, 123, t.c.; Ottawa Journal, 23 May 1951, 1; Architecture Batiment Construction [Montreal], x, Feb. 1955, 28-30, illus. & descrip.)
ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, April 1950, 127)
ROMAN CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL, 1955 (Architecture Batiment Construction [Montreal], x, June 1955, 45-7, illus.)
SARRA-BOURNET & AUDET
ECOLE ST. JEAN DE BREBEUF, Montreal Road East at Napoleon Street, 1963 (Architecture Batiment Construction [Montreal], xviii, May 1963, 40-1, illus.)
HULL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, near Fairy Lake Parkway, 1963-64 (Ottawa Journal, 28 Jan. 1963, 4)
OTTAWA, ONT., St. Louis de Montfort Roman Catholic Church, Brouillon Street, 1965 (Ottawa Journal, 22 May 1965, 35)
OTTAWA, ONT., St. Brigid's Roman Catholic School, Springfield Road at Maple Lane, 1966 (Ottawa Journal, 21 May 1966, 34)