Project Description
Click on the above image to bring up a complete gallery of images. Photos by Tom Fitzsimmons Photography
The parish pastor approached us to look at options to connect their existing Catholic Church and school together with a new addition. The project initially began with the need to relocate four meeting rooms from a modular building needing repairs. It soon expanded to include relocation of a meditation chapel from under the school library, and to provide a suitable fellowship space/narthex for the church off the primary parking areas. We looked at both one and two-story options, and the building committee liked the efficiency of the two-story approach. Three pairs of stained glass windows in the church were removed to create doors that encourage parishioners to exit the church into the gathering space to encourage fellowship after services.
A unique challenge was that the school building is a split-level building, so while the addition would be on the same level as the church floor, it would straddle between school floors. A stair had to be designed to connect the various levels, and a two-sided elevator provides the school with wheelchair access for the first time since its 1950 opening.
The building is equipped with audio visual services including monitors in all rooms, electronic signage, and digital lighting controls. Security consists of card readers at all doors and also in the elevator to restrict second floor access to certain hours (such as denying school kids a place to hang out). Project consultants included Tango Interior Design, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, and Haas Civil Engineers.
