Duncan G. Stroik Architect, LLC

This campus design is for a Catholic College in New England.  The quadrangle is defined by palazzi which house Academic, Performing Arts, Administrative and Library functions.  Dormitory rooms are placed in between, while the head of the quadrangle is the chapel. 

A project for a new parish church and masterplan for a Catholic Church in the Sierra Nevada mountains.  The site plan features a paved plaza defined by an arcade, the front facade of the church, and the adjacent rectory.  The second phase of the project will include a school and parish center on the same site.

The renovation of this early twentieth century church designed by Emmanuel Louis Masqueray intends to restore the interior to its former glory.

The richly ornamented and painted walls, which were white-washed in the 1970s, will be repainted and restored to their original design. A new marble altar and baldacchino will be installed in the sanctuary along with a new marble ambo and cathedra. The richly carved wood confessionals that were removed in the 1970s will be reproduced and installed in the side aisles. A new decorative marble slab floor will be installed throughout the entire church replacing the current monochromatic stone tile.

Also, as part of this renovation, the mechanical, electrical, sound reinforcement, and lighting systems will all be replaced or upgraded including new custom chandeliers replicated from photographs of the originals.  You can see more construction photos and learn more about the Cathedral renovation at the link below:

Visit the renovation website »

The St. Theresa Education Center in Sugar Land, Texas was dedicated on August 13th, 2009 by His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of Archbishop of Galveston-Houston. The building houses a new elementary school for students in kindergarten through sixth grade, offices for the parish staff, and offices for catechetical education for children and adults. The two-story brick and limestone building is inspired by St. Mary’s Seminary and Ralph Adams Cram’s buildings at Rice University.

The main entry is placed next to the existing church, and is articulated by a façade with banded brickwork and arches, limestone and marble details. The Ionic doorway leads to a two-story lobby with a skylight above, off of which are parish offices and the school library. The Doric entry to the school is off of the porte-cochere.

A second phase of the project will add classrooms for pre-school and middle school, as well as classrooms for science, art, and music and additional office space. A gymnasium and refectory already exist.

The Shrine to the Sacred Heart was conceived by Archbishop Raymond Burke to deepen the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. After considering a number of locations, it was decided that the left transept (or arm) had an area suitable for the sacred image and would balance with the baptismal font located in the right transept. Research shows that George Barnett, the original architect for the cathedral, had the intention of placing equestrian statues of St. Louis and St. George in the transepts surrounded by bronze statues of the twelve apostles on marble pedestals. Our aim was much more modest, though no less important, to build a shrine for the image of the Sacred Heart in the mother church of the Archdiocese.

Working with His Excellency, Archbishop Burke, the rector of the Cathedral Monsignor Pins and with the able assistance of Monsignor Breier and Fr. Keller we examined the great variety of shrines and side chapels within the Cathedral. In studying this great work of architecture we were in awe of the great variety of marbles, mosaics, symbols, and architectural elements that find their place within. The focus of the new shrine of the Sacred Heart is a mosaic produced by the esteemed Mosaic Studio located at the Vatican. The mosaic is based upon an original oil painting, presumably by a Spanish artist in the Nineteenth century, owned by the Archdiocese.

The design of the shrine is free standing with a pediment to give it verticality and prominence within the colonnaded apse. A series of architectural elements act as frames that set apart and visually enlarge the three by four foot image. An arch of white carrara marble surrounds the mosaic with an image above of the crown of thorns, three nails, and cloth to allude to Christ’s suffering for humanity. The columns are like sentinels and are constructed out of diaspro marble from Sicily, a fragile and rare marble beloved by artists such as Bernini. The column capitals are composite and are inspired by the capitals at the Cathedral high altar with a cross, fleur de lis and lamb of God as part of their design.

Under the richly carved pediment, which stands twelve and a half feet above the floor, there are three circles or tondi made out of volcano red and Pakistan dark onyx with gold mosaic bands. Above the pediment are two urns (inspired by the ceiling mosaics) with flames of marble symbolizing the burning love of Christ for his children. At the apex of the shrine is a bronze and azul image of the monogram of the Holy Name or IHS surrounded by gold rays. The marble walls of the shrine are rosa portogallo with a slightly darker variant under the altar. The altar has panels of verde isorie and nuovo brocatello surrounded by bands of red mosaic and bianco carrara frames. The aisle side of the shrine has a simplified marble banding with an inlaid coat of arms of Archbishop Burke as the patron of the shrine.

The botticino classico floor matches other shrine pavements in the Cathedral and has a geometric pattern that frames the altar using statuario, portoro, rouge du roi, and giallo siena marbles. The central circle is a Star of David, remembering the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for which Christ is the completion and referring to Our Lady who is the synagogue, because she bore the Word within her. The curved altarrail of arabescato violetto creates a threshold to the shrine and provides a place to kneel and pray. The bronze doors feature bas-reliefs of a pelican feeding her young with blood from her breast, symbolic of Christ’s Eucharistic sacrifice. They complement the peacocks, symbols of immortality, at the Cathedral sanctuary.

In total, approximately thirty different marbles and onyxes, pieces that weigh up to six hundred pounds, were employed in the design to reflect the rich variety of marbles found in the Cathedral. The scagliola columns, black marble bases and warm natural colors of the transept walls, Stations of the Cross and confessionals surround the Sacred Heart Shrine. The marble fabrication and carving and the bronze casting was supervised by Roberto Pagliari in Carrara and Pietrasanta Italy. The marble, which has a concrete substructure, was erected by Chad Meyer of Stone Renaissance in St. Louis.

St. Paul the Apostle Church is located prominently on East Main Street in downtown Spartanburg, South Carolina. Spartanburg has a large number of fine churches to which the parish wanted to add while offering a particularly Catholic vision of the house of God.

The design for the church of St. Paul uses a traditional architectural style and configuration that is reflective of the Catholic faith and heritage. It is modeled on the broad tradition of Catholic architecture in the United States as well as on Lombard Romanesque architecture. The new 1000 seat church will incorporate forms and symbols that make it unmistakably a Catholic church.

As a house of prayer, the exterior will be welcoming, ennobling, and exude a sense of reverence. The church is located so as to create a plaza in the front and a prominent entrance along East Main Street. The new church, trees, and East Main Street will define the new plaza. As a liturgical building, the exterior plaza will serve as a site for the Easter fire, for outdoor prayer services, and for processions. The plaza will become an outdoor gathering space as well providing a drop-off location near the entry to the church. A small garden and shrine to St. Francis is placed near the entrance to the property.

As an image of the eternal, the church will be constructed out of timeless materials such as brick with stone accents. Front stairs and a ramp lead up to a raised terrace and a welcoming porch (inspired by the early Christian prothyron) with a bas-relief of the conversion of St. Paul over the main entry. Statues of Saints Peter and Paul on the side bays, along with the following quotes from scripture, will greet all those who enter:

Above statue of Peter: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. — Matthew 16

Above statue of Paul: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? — First Corinthians 10

Above the porch is a rose window or wheel surrounded by symbols of the four evangelists, while the façade is crowned by an image of the Virgin and Child and a cross.

The generous narthex is a place of preparation with views into the nave. It will double as a cry room and connects to stairs, bathrooms, and an elevator. Above the narthex is a choir loft with provision for a future organ.

The nave is in the style of a Roman basilica with side aisles defined by Corinthian arcades. Confessionals will be placed near the beginning of the side aisles symbolic of the process of repentance and forgiveness on our journey toward the Eucharist. The interior will focus on the altar as the place of sacrifice and communion. A tester or canopy hovers over the altar while a prominent tabernacle will indicate the central mystery of faith and reaffirm the building as a Eucharistic house. The longitudinal nave will exemplify the journey of faith with Stations of the Cross along the side aisles. As a transcendent place, the interior will soar upwards with a vaulted ceiling and heavenly light will flood the nave through the side and rose windows. Devotional areas with a painting or statue, and a place to light a candle and pray will be provided. As the main focus and symbol of heaven, the sanctuary will be raised on steps, framed by a triumphal arch with a solid floor and paneled wood walls. A large wood ambo for proclaiming and preaching the Word of God will be decorated with symbols of the four evangelists or scriptural narratives. A smaller lectern for the cantor balances it.

The building is to be constructed with a steel frame and concrete masonry infill above a concrete foundation, brick and stone exterior veneer walls, and steel roof trusses. The interior materials will be predominantly wood and plaster with tile floors in the nave and marble floors in the sanctuary. Parking is provided adjacent to the church and along the street. A drop-off in the front and sidewalks lead to the main entry as well as entrances on each side.

A Marian garden behind the church featuring a statue, fountain, and plantings provides a place of prayer and tranquility. Tree lined walks connect the church to the existing school and parish center. Future phases may include a bell tower and transepts to increase seating capacity.

This new commercial headquarters for a Midwest software company is located in downtown Maysville, Kentucky and is directly adjacent to the Ohio River. The building is the first step in the redevelopment of downtown Maysville and will set the standard for future buildings. A small parking garage and an English pub occupy the rusticated base. The ground floor will include shops and a cafe. The sloping site allows views to the river from the cafe patio located on the ground floor. The upper three floors will house office, lecture, conference, and exhibition spaces for the software company. The building is inspired by French Parisian architecture. The building will be constructed with solid masonry walls composed of brick and a limestone facing.

The renovation of a restaurant garden patio located in Maysville, Kentucky. The project includes a new facade for an existing garage and studio apartment building and a new garden patio featuring carved limestone walls, hand-crafted wrought iron gates, and a central fountain.

This is a renovation of the sanctuary of a large parish church in the Archdiocese of Houston. A new sanctuary is designed around a triumphal arch motif that also becomes a baldacchino over the marble altar. The polychromed Corinthian columns give a monumental scale to this large church and help to focus on three sacramental elements: the altar, tabernacle, and crucifix above. To either side, the smaller archways highlight the ambo and the priest’s chair. A new organ and organ screen flanks the sanctuary and provides a location for devotional statues. Coats of arms of the Archdiocese and the Bishop of Rome are placed above.

Designed to accommodate a growing family and large gatherings, this 1930s style bungalow is shaped to take advantage of the sloping site. Three floors featuring five bedrooms, a two story tall living area, a spacious kitchen, entertainment areas, and an outdoor terrace were the key to meeting both challenges. The American bungalow style featuring modest details allows this home to express quality and craftsmanship in a setting in the Michigan countryside.

The design for St. Mark Church uses a traditional architectural style and configuration that is reflective of the Catholic faith and heritage. It is modeled on the broad tradition of Catholic architecture in the United States as well as churches dedicated to St. Mark in Venice, Florence and Rome.

The new 1400 seat church, along with the parish center and school, are conceived as a city on a hill. St. Mark Church will incorporate the forms and the symbols that make it unmistakably a Catholic church. As an image of the eternal, it will be constructed out of timeless and low maintenance materials, such as brick, stone, and wood. As a Gate of triumph and a sacred place, it will have a large front portico and vertical proportions. As a liturgical building, the exterior plaza will serve as a site for the Easter fire, for outdoor prayer services, and for processions. As a house of prayer, the exterior and the narthex will be welcoming, ennobling, and exude a sense of reverence. An inscription over the front door and an image of St. Mark will greet all those who enter.

The exterior of the church is located so as to create the St. Mark plaza in the front and a prominent apse and entrance along Stumptown road. The new plaza has a central fountain and will be defined by the Msgr. Kerin center, the new church and an edge of trees. The plaza will become an outdoor gathering space as well adjacent to the majority of new parking along with providing dropoff and handicapped parking. Side entrances will have drop offs and turnarounds on grade.

A future cloister garden will provide an outdoor place of tranquility surrounded by brick arcades with a columbarium built into the walls. The arcade will make a covered connection from the Msgr. Kerin center to the bell tower entrance.

The exterior of the church is predominately constructed of brick and stone with a metal roof. Front stairs and ramp lead up to a raised terrace and a welcoming Doric loggia. Two lions (symbols of St. Mark) and statues of four saints greet the visitor. The generous narthex is a place of preparation with views into the nave and into an octagonal baptistery. The octagonal baptistery will be articulated by ionic columns and will spiral up into a faceted dome with a skylight above. Inscriptions referring to baptism will be placed in the frieze of the baptistery. The St. Mark room will provide a place for ushers, brides, wakes, as well as committee meetings or gatherings. The narthex will double as a cry room and will also have off of it stairs, bathrooms, and an elevator. Above the narthex is a choir loft with provision for a future organ while below is located storage and the mechanical room.

The nave is a cruciform space in the style of a Roman basilica with ionic arcades, side aisles, stations of the cross and devotional shrines. Confessionals will be placed near the beginning of the aisles symbolic of the process of repentance and forgiveness on our journey toward the Eucharist. Clerestory windows bring light into the vaulted central nave with smaller arched windows in the aisles. In the transepts shrines dedicated to the Sacred Heart and to the Blessed Virgin Mary will be placed with the left transept doubling as a daily mass chapel. Large Corinthian pilasters support the four corners of the shallow saucer dome with images of the four evangelists beneath.

The interior will focus on the altar as the place of sacrifice and communion. A prominent tabernacle will indicate the central mystery of faith and that the church is a Eucharistic house. A longitudinal nave will exemplify the journey of faith with stations of the cross along the sides. As a transcendent place, the interior will soar upwards, heavenly light will flood the nave from above, and images of the saints and angels will surround the congregation. Devotional areas with a painting or statue, and a place to light a candle and pray will be provided. As a house of God, the sanctuary will be raised and will receive greatest focus and finest materials. A prominent marble ambo for proclaiming and preaching the Word of God will be decorated with symbols of the four evangelists or scriptural narratives. A smaller lectern balances it for the cantor. A triumphal arch, decoration, and steps at the location of reception of the Eucharist will frame the sanctuary. A large marble altar will be framed architecturally by a baldachino. The church will also be seen as a sacramental place with a prominent baptistery, elegant wood confessionals, as well as a generous area near the sanctuary for weddings, confirmation and ordinations.

The semicircular apse is ringed with windows and an ambulatory that will connect the work sacristy and the priest’s sacristy. Materials in the church will be painted wood and plaster with tile floors in the nave and marble in the sanctuary. The building is to be constructed with a steel frame and concrete masonry infill above a concrete foundation, brick and limestone exterior veneer walls, and steel roof trusses.

This is a renovation of a daily mass chapel for a large parish church in the Archdiocese of Houston. The existing chapel was rather functional in style and the pastor desired to create a place of prayer and devotion that would support and honor the liturgy. The chapel, which is 1700 square feet in size, is dedicated to St. Therese of the Little Flower that has occasioned the commissioning of a new stained glass of the saint within the sanctuary. Smaller traditional chapels of the early Renaissance influenced the addition of architectural elements including Doric columns, pilasters, entablatures, door architraves and small shrines. The addition of a new marble slab floor and custom wood and marble altar are the focus of the project. With a limited budget and a grand vision, the design called for research in inexpensive materials and the creative use of color.

The walls of the chapel are umber and the architectural elements added are white. The frieze of the Doric entablature and the back walls of the small shrines are a burgundy color. Simple wood coffering with painted panels and ecclesiastical pendant fixtures add to the chapel’s aesthetic. Two new confessional rooms and a working sacristy were added in keeping with the design of the chapel. The marble slab floor of the sanctuary consists of cooler grays and blues with white marble tiles creating simple geometric patterns. The altar seeks to combine the iconography of both meal and sacrifice with corner balusters and a mensa made from onyx. The tabernacle located behind the altar is from Spain and sits on a shrine that compliments the design of the altar.

This is a summer house for a family with Irish roots and relatives. The site is near Galway, on Lough Corrib, the second largest lake in Ireland. The lake area is environmentally protected, and all development is kept to a minimum with adherence to strict planning and aesthetic guidelines. The house is placed on the site to take advantage of the limited sunlight and the magnificent views of Lough Corrib.

It is a 3800-sf house inspired by both the low-slung cottages of Galway and the Classical language of Palladio employed in many of the Irish country houses. All of the public rooms look out on the lake across a raised stone terrace. Four bedrooms with baths allow more than one family to inhabit the house and for visitors to come at will.

This proposed urban piazza and gateway is intended to create a new civic identity for the town of Covington, Kentucky, while connecting it back across the Ohio River to Cincinnati, Ohio. The new piazza is monumental in scale and becomes both a reference to and a mediation between the city and the Roebling Bridge, the longest single-span suspension bridge at the time of its construction. The central focus of the forum is a “Museum of Engineering Technology” which would document the history of the Roebling Bridge and provide exhibits on the history of civic works of engineering. The museum is modeled on the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and an important paradigm for a number of buildings across the river in Cincinnati. The three-sided forum has ground floor arcades that permit shaded and protected passageways as well as providing large areas of shop fronts for retail use. Upper floors are planned for office and residential uses.

The Saint Pius X Education Center is conceived as a place of learning for all ages. Located in a suburban area outside of South Bend, Indiana, the new education center reflects the tradition of Catholic architecture and particularly that of Northern Italy where St. Pius X was born. The building is a two-story brick and limestone structure. The front entrance is a two-story arcade with Pius X’s motto “To Renew All Things in Christ” and his coat of arms in the pediment. Large windows provide generous natural lighting and ventilation to all of the classrooms.

The education center connects to the existing church and parish center so as to facilitate use by the parish, priests and staff. An arcaded courtyard has a garden and is seen as a place for classes, prayer services and parish receptions. The focus of the courtyard will be a shrine dedicated to the Virgin, in her role as mother of the Church and Seat of Wisdom.

Inside, a two-story lobby is designed with images from the life of St. Pius X corresponding with images from the life of Christ. Inscriptions such as “Let the little children come to me…” are placed within the frieze. The library is a two-story room with numerous windows, bookshelves along the walls and a fireplace at one end. The full size gym has a stage and locker rooms and a lobby facing the courtyard. Classrooms for grades K–8, as well as for science, art and music, are connected by generous terazzo corridors.

This new church, which will seat up to 1600 people, is planned for a fast growing town. The design of the church is inspired by sacred buildings in the area around Venice. The church is placed adjacent to gardens and a piazza to serve as both exterior gathering spaces and areas for devotion. As is traditional, the church is oriented on an east-west axis while its monumental façade and curving apse face two major roads. The tall bell tower, inspired by Venetian examples, will be visible from the intersection as well as from far away making the location of God’s house clear to all those who pass by. Regional materials such as brick, limestone and a metal roof will be employed.

On the interior, a generous atrium surmounted by a glass roof provides a large gathering area along with a baptistery and ancillary functions. The church proper is cruciform with the altar and sanctuary at the crossing. The nave is articulated by paired ionic columns and arches which are surmounted by large thermal windows. The ceiling is wood with wood trusses recalling the architecture of the existing church on the site. Side aisles facilitate movement and provide areas for devotional shrines and stations of the cross. Above the crossing or heart of the church is a grand dome and lantern supported figuratively by images of the four evangelists. The cupola’s height and spiritual light provides a vertical axis and offers a sense of transcendence to the building. A corona or crown hovers over the sacred altar and behind it hangs an image of the crucified Lord. A screen wall of ionic columns separates the sanctuary from an adoration chapel with a large opening framing the view of the tabernacle of the blessed sacrament. The organ of the existing church will be reused in the new church with music rooms and additional meeting rooms located in a partially finished undercroft.

This villa is a design for a private lakeside residence in the Midwest. The house takes its model from Venetian palaces and gardens, having a classical European façade with tripartite divisions. The main body of the residence contains generously proportioned public rooms, while the wings are more private in character. The house sits on an extensively landscaped site, with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.

This new commercial building is 120,000 square feet, and its design follows the tradition of American urban offices from the early 20th century. It has a courtyard with a small fountain at the main entry. The base of the building is limestone with bronze entry doors that lead to a marble lobby with high vaulted ceilings. The next five floors of the building are traditional yellow brick with limestone cornice, balustrade and urns.

The ground level will have a restaurant, store fronts, office space, and tenant parking. Floors above will be used for office space and commercial headquarters for the owner.

The design of Annunciation Academy reflects the classical teaching mission of the Academy. The aim of the building is to provide the optimum setting for education and the imparting of wisdom to the next generation. Following the tradition of Thomas Jefferson, the architecture seeks to instruct students in the richness of intellectual tradition and in eternal truths.

Influenced by the Academy is the tradition of the academic quadrangle and the monastic cloister garden. A central pavilion houses the foyer and chapel, with two wings housing the classrooms, a library and common room. The quadrangle is open on one side to welcome children and their parents, to provide an appropriate drop off area as well as an outdoor room for waiting and recreation. At the circle entrance there is a fountain dedicated to the Virgin. Entrances to the Library and the Commons are also provided, making after school events convenient.

The front façade employs the doric and ionic orders in a composition inspired by Tidewater villas and Catholic churches. The first floor frieze has the academy motto inscribed “Fiat Mihi Secundum Verbum Tuum” while the tympanum of the pediment has a sculpture of the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin. The spacious entrance lobby contains the seal of the Academy on the floor, and in side niches there are images of Saints particularly of interest to children (such as Saint Maria Goretti, Saint John Bosco, Saint Francis of Assisi, and David). The lobby is the place of orientation, being proximate to stairs, elevator, offices and the chapel. Hallways with arcaded windows surrounding the quadrangle lead to classrooms as well as to the library and commons. Classrooms have built in shelving, blackboards, tack boards, storage and generous windows bringing in light and views of the fields. Classes for upper grades are provided on the second floor and there is a small balcony to the chapel and a large conference room looking over the quadrangle.

The two-story commons will be used as a refectory, for school meetings and has a stage for musical and dramatic performances. The one story library has built in shelving with small study and reading areas. The offices are placed near the main and side entrances for good visibility and security. The chapel, dedicated to St. Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer, is the symbolic heart of the Academy having a two story space articulated with corinthian pilasters, clerestory lighting and devotional artwork.

This house is a modern “villa suburbana” that has been translated from the Italian Veneto to Middle America; a grand little building constructed out of simple materials for a small family to which the enjoyment of the fine arts, music and philosophy are both professions and passions. The house is seen both as ennobling these activities and as an expression of them.

The architectural context is seen as the broad tradition and history of the villa type with special interest in the work of Andrea Palladio and Thomas Jefferson. The architect’s goal was to reinstate the simple pleasures of the villa life in contemporary society while raising the standard of architectural and artistic form as a benefit to the public realm. The artist’s goal was to give meaning and form to the rituals and beliefs of the family with full awareness of the modern life. The proposed frescos and sculpture are progeny of seicento and settecento Italian artists such as Veronese, Vittoria and Tiepolo who sought to give form to the aspirations of their times while also reflecting on the art and moral philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome.

The building’s design grew out of the architect’s research and measured drawings of the architecture of Andrea Palladio in the Italian Veneto. In his innovative designs Palladio created a new type by combining the summer house or castello with vernacular farm buildings and by wedding them architecturally to the agricultural landscape. Villa Indiana is a conscious transformation of the Palladian villa type at a scale appropriate for a young family while maintaining the proportions of Palladio’s masterpieces.

The Chapel of the North American Martyrs is designed for the campus of Thomas More College in New England which also has a campus in Rome, Italy. The quadrangle on which the chapel fronts is both a type of New England green and a type of academic cloister. The chapel design grows out of the rich tradition of the Eternal City, referencing both the basilica type as exemplified by Santa Maria in Trastevere (Rome) as well as examples from the Italian Renaissance. In addition, the chapel reflects the rich American architectural heritage, in particular the interpretation of Classical models by New England churches.

The chapel is entered up a flight of steps with a monumental Ionic portico into a small narthex. The interior is characteristic of the Early Christian basilica with a nave, two aisles and an apse. Wood Ionic columns march towards the sanctuary with its polychromed altar and baldacchino. A wall safe tabernacle in the tradition of San Clemente and Florentine Renaissance is placed behind the altar, with seating for clergy and acolytes on either side. The ambo is placed in the middle of the nave, attached to one of the central columns, to give emphasis to the Word of God and to preaching. The painted apse has an image of Christ and his mother enthroned and surrounded by the North American Martyrs who brought faith to the region. A frieze of images reflecting the life of St. Thomas More, patron of the college, is also placed within the apse. Shrines to Mary Magdalene and the Virgin are located to either side of the sanctuary at the end of the aisles. The chapel seats approximately 275 people, with a small choir loft, and an Aula Magna in the undercroft for lectures, exhibitions and dramatic works.

No end of human works is so great as the honor of God … for this reason magnificence is connected with holiness, since its chief effect is directed to religion or holiness. — Summa Theologiae

Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity chapel is prominently located at the head of the main quadrangle at Thomas Aquinas College. This central location reflects the central role of faith in the pursuit of wisdom. As domus Dei, the chapel is intended to offer a beautiful edifice for divine liturgy, for prayer, and to be an image of our heavenly destiny. The design partakes of the broad tradition of Catholic architecture including the Early Christian, the Romanesque, the Renaissance, the Baroque, the Spanish tradition, and the churches of Southern California.
Read the dedication.

The three story belltower and dome can be seen from within the valley, and in particular from Ojai Road. After entering the campus, visitors will see the chapel’s curvilinear apse rising in front of them and will mount stairs up to a side terrace garden. Two octagonal corner pavilions, inspired by the posas built for catechesis by Spanish missionaries, provide a transition to the arcades of existing academic buildings.

The front of the chapel is on the college’s main quadrangle with arcades providing covered access from the chapel to the academic buildings. The front façade is articulated by a limestone triumphal arch with fluted and spiral fluted ionic columns. These frame the marble statues of St. Augustine, Doctor Gratiae, and St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor Communis the spiritual fathers of the college. Positioned above are four Corinthian pilasters which form a temple in muris punctuated by a central window. Within the triangular pediment two angels hold the college’s coat of arms while a marble statue of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity surmounts the pediment. The lower frieze inscription, Domina Nostra Sanctissimae Trinitatatis, indicates the dedication of the chapel while the upper frieze quotes Rev. 12:1, Et Signum magnum apparuit in caelo mulier amicta sole et luna sub pedibus eius et in capite eius corona stellarum duodecim. The exterior has thick walls with a stucco finish, stone detailing, red tile roofs, and arched and circular windows.

Generous stairs and a broad terrace provide a gathering place and a location for outdoor ceremonies. The triumphal arch leads to a large porch or exonarthex with doric pilasters which support a heavy coffered vault. The main bronze doors have been designed to receive six bas-reliefs from the life of the Virgin with the “coronation” in the lunette above. The chapel has a nave, transept and sanctuary in the shape of a cross holding up to four hundred people. corinthian arcades made out of monolithic marble columns give it the character of an Early Christian basilica. The corinthian capitals have an image of the Holy Spirit on their face. A giant order of composite pilasters support a full entablature from which springs the vault of the ceiling with its ribbed supports and arched windows. The windows are high up in the nave and the aisles, symbolizing spiritual light. At the crossing, a segmental dome symbolizes the dome of heaven with twelve circular windows in honor of the apostles. Large double pilasters give support to the dome with pendentives marked by symbols of the four evangelists. The side aisles provide places for procession and additional seating, while mahogany confessionals are placed at the center point of the nave.

The curved sanctuary is defined by a raised marble floor, an altarrail and giant composite pilasters and arches. The main focus of the interior is on the pure white marble altar covered by a bronze baldacchino. Four solomonic columns on marble pedestals support a canopy, while angels holding wheat and grapes flank an image of Christ crucified. An octagonal marble and gold bronze tabernacle with an image of the redeemer is centrally located at the head of the chapel while a raised mahogany ambo with a sounding board is placed off to one side. To either side of the sanctuary are marble shrines with paintings of the Annunciation and the Baptism of Christ while shrines in honor of the temptation of St. Thomas and the communion of St. Theresa of Avila are located at the end of the transepts. A sacristy and a work sacristy with mahogany cabinetry are located to either side of the sanctuary and connected by a small ambulatory.

Holy Cross Monastery is a community of Benedictine Monks who have formed a contemplative monastery within the city of Chicago. A spiritual undertaking of this sort is rather unique in contemporary America. The Monastery sits on half a block of a traditional Chicago neighborhood and attaches itself to the existing Gothic church, originally built as a parish for Austrian immigrants. The monastic buildings are designed in the tradition of Renaissance monasteries as well as American public buildings. Corner bays project to relate to the scale of the residential neighborhood, while the rose brick and limestone are meant to both complement and defer to the architecture of the church.

The program of the Monastery is complex in function, accommodating guests, retreatants, visitors and laity while maintaining clausura for the monks. The major areas are the gatehouse, monastic cloister, garden court, guesthouse, and a bed and breakfast. The main entrance into the gatehouse focuses on a statue of St. Benedict with public rooms off to the left and the entry into the Monastery on the right. The center of the monastery is the arcaded cloister around which the major rooms are placed. It is a generous cloister with vaulted brick loggias and frescoes. In the center there is a fountain, a shrine to the Blessed Virgin and flowers and trees planted as a representation of paradise.

The main rooms are placed on the cardinal axes of the cloister. The schola room is to the right of the cloister while a main stair hall leading to the chapter room and church is to the left. The two story refectory is a miniature colonnaded basilica, with a raised reading desk placed at one end and an area for guests screened off at the other end. The two story library is placed above the main entrance with reading alcoves and clearstory windows. The main stair hall and elevator lead to a corridor for statio and the entrance into the chapter house which has a domed oculus, pilasters and built in seating. The two upper floors of the cloister have cells for both monks and novices with a recreation room and balcony on the third floor.

The interior of the church has been redesigned to accommodate the liturgical life of the monastery with the construction of a raised choir, new stalls and a choir railing. A new marble altar with a baldacchino and the tabernacle are placed in the sanctuary. The undercroft of the church will be reorganized with meeting and lecture rooms. A small plaza is placed on the side of the church for liturgical processions with a statue of St. Basil, the Father of Eastern Monasticism.

The design for the church of St. Margaret Mary is inspired by the mission churches of the American Southwest and Mexico. The new church is located on a plateau next to the existing parish buildings and can be seen from a long distance. The exterior of the church is finished in white stucco with a clay tile roof. A bell tower rises on the south side of the church, set back slightly from the front facade.

From Oatman Road, the new church is approached on axis with a courtyard. The courtyard is landscaped with native desert shrubs and cacti and has a fountain at the center. It is enclosed on two sides by an arcade, behind which are placed support spaces such as the robing sacristy, restrooms and the gift shop. The facade focuses on a richly carved stone entry arch topped by an ornate window above. Niches flank the entry, with statues of St. Joseph to the left and the Blessed Virgin with Child to the right.

From the courtyard, one enters into a generous narthex, from which stairs and an elevator to the choir loft can be accessed. The church is cruciform in plan with a nave, side aisles, and a transept. The baptismal font is placed near the entrance to the nave on the south side of the main aisle. An exposed wood truss ceiling crowns the nave and transepts. Stations of the cross adorn the walls in the side aisles. The transept arms contain shrines dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe (south) and the Sacred Heart (north). Opposite the large shrines, smaller niches contain statues of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and St. Jude. The church seats 960 people in the nave and 50 people in the choir loft.

The sanctuary, located in the crossing, is raised to give it prominence and good visibility from all seats in the church. The marble altar is placed under a baldacchino and the tabernacle is placed at the center of an ornate retablo in the apse. At the center of the retablo is a life-size crucifix flanked by images of St. Margaret Mary and St. Peter.

This chapel is in a new residence in the rolling hills of Nebraska. Inspired by the simple rationality of the Florentine Renaissance, the room is configured with a vaulted nave and a domical sanctuary. Dedicated to the Holy Family in order to emphasize its example for families today and to reinforce the importance of the domestic Church. Arcaded walls in the nave support the triumphal arch of the sanctuary and focus attention on the marble high altar. Corinthian columns and pediment surround a bronze crucifix by Roberto Santo and the bronze tempietto tabernacle unites the real action of the altar with the real presence of the reservation. Roundels in the pendentives of the dome enframe the four evangelists, and natural light from the circular oculus above creates an aura of holy mystery. Side chapels in the front and rear of the chapel are dedicated to Our Lady, the Archangel Michael, St. Joseph and St. Francis of Assisi. All of these sculptures, along with the candelabra were sculpted by Roberto Santo of Pietrasanta, Italy.

The materials of the chapel are, for the most part, white plaster with stained mahogany woodwork and white marble elements in the sanctuary. The floor of the nave is a brown marble with white edges, while the sanctuary floor is a pattern of black and white marbles. The chapel creates a holy place within a house to which many friends and extended family members will be invited. It will be used for prayer as well as special liturgies.

All Saints church is located on a prominent site in the countryside near Covington, Kentucky. The design seeks to offer a vision of the sacred to those living and working in the area. The major approaches to the church offer views of its curved apse or its layered façade giving the domus Ecclesiae great prominence. A small piazza creates a focus and gathering space for the church, as well as for the existing school and rectory. Parking is in areas proximate to the church as well as along a new street with an allee of trees designed for processions. The composition of the exterior and interior elevations references the classicism of the southern United States, as well as the architecture of the Catholic architectural tradition in general. The construction is a brick and limestone facing over concrete block and a steel frame.

The front façade is articulated as a gate to heaven, and gives intimations of the composition of the holy place within. Carved limestone bas-reliefs over the doorways symbolize the sacramental life of the Church and her saints. A stained glass window of the Assumption is placed over the entry and the coat of arms of the Diocese is placed in the tympanum. The façade is crowned by a glorified cross. The main entrance into the narthex allows communication to a vesting sacristy, stairs and bathrooms. The interior of the nave is articulated with paired pilasters and arches, a simple entablature and a plaster barrel vault. Large thermal windows bring light in from above. The font is given honor by being placed within its own space, near the entrance so as to symbolize entry into Mother Church through the sacrament.

The spacious nave is 58' wide and 50' tall with seating for 600 people. A generous choir loft allows for choirs of up to 50 people plus instruments. A small transept helps to articulate a spacious sanctuary and devotional shrines to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the Sacred Heart. Within the sanctuary the marble altar is central with a tent-like baldacchino overhead. The baldacchino symbolizes the epiclesis of the Mass and has within its soffit an image of the Holy Spirit. The ambo is also paneled and can be accessed from either the sanctuary or the nave. It is balanced by the presider’s chair and images of Saints Peter and Paul are placed overhead. Within the apse there is a screen of pilasters and a paneled wall with a crucifix surmounting the entablature. The tabernacle is placed at the center of the wall and can be accessed from the sanctuary or the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in the rear. The main sacristy is to the left of the sanctuary while a secondary foyer to the right has exterior doors allowing for prayer and eucharistic adoration to occur in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel when the church is closed. Since the church is dedicated to All Saints both the exterior and the interior of the building have images of the “cloud of witnesses,” especially those from modern times, which surround the faithful and help them in their worship.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is said to be one of the first major Catholic churches built in a classical manner in over fifty years. It is meant to be a place for the faithful to come on pilgrimage and to foster devotion to the Blessed Virgin under her title of Patroness of the Americas. In the tradition of pilgrimage churches, the Shrine is located high upon a hill outside of the city with a campanile and dome which is visible from afar. Since it is a place for prayer and pilgrimage, the Shrine is designed to accommodate flow and movement, with seating in the nave for the liturgy and large open side aisles for circulation and prayer. The Shrine is the vision of His Excellency Raymond L. Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, and was solemnly dedicated on July 31, 2008. Read the dedication homily.

The interior of the Shrine is a cruciform domical church inspired by great Counter Reformation examples such as the Gesù, Sant’Andrea della Valle, and San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini in Rome. These churches represent the highest standard in sacred architecture and were designed by many of the same architects who worked on St. Peter’s in the Vatican. Monumental fluted corinthian pilasters and arches define the nave and give it a monumental scale worthy of a temple to the Lord. The glazed corinthian capitals symbolize the Mother of God and include cherubim who look toward the sanctuary. In between are symbols of Mary which are connected to the capitals with swags made of roses. The entablature above is inscribed with the names of the Virgin from the litany of Loreto such as Rosa Mystica and Regina Martyrum while her symbols are reflected in the stained glass windows below. Generous side aisles flank the nave and feature the six minor shrines dedicated to the Divine Mercy and St. Faustina, St. Maria Goretti, St. Peregrine, St. Gianna Beretta Molla, Blessed Miguel Pro, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, placed to encourage specific devotion. Doric confessionals are placed in the side aisles immediately in front of the crossing. Ribs punctuate the vaulted ceiling while stained glass windows follow the life of the Virgin.

Images of four doctors of the Church, Saints Ambrose, Ephrem, John Damascene, and Cyril of Alexandria, who are known for their writings on the Blessed Virgin reside within the pendentives which support the dome with its eight clear windows. The frieze of the dome features an inscription in Latin from John 2:4–5:

Et dicit ei Iesus quid mihi et tibi est mulier nondum venit hora mea, Dicit mater eius ministris quodcumque dixerit vobis facite

[“O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”]

The dome is painted with blue and gold colors based on the sacred image. It shows the constellations as they appeared on December 9, 1531, the day that Our Lady of Guadalupe revealed herself to Juan Diego, while the lantern above has an image of the Trinity. Minor shrines with marble statues of St. Juan Diego and St. Joseph flank the sanctuary while the transept holds the major shrines of paired Composite columns dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The raised marble sanctuary is defined by an altar rail, steps and an ornamented archway. The focus of the sanctuary is a rosso francia marble and gold baldacchino surmounting the rouge du roi marble altar. The altar which is shaped like an empty tomb symbolizes the sacrifice of the mass as well as remembers the Ascension and the Assumption of the Holy One of God. Behind the altar is a five foot tall marble tabernacle above which is placed a reproduction made by the Vatican Mosaic studio of the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The frame of the image is gilded in Mexican silver. A mahogany ambo with bas-reliefs of the four evangelists and tester is placed against one of the piers of the crossing while a life sized wooden crucifix hangs above the baldacchino. The bishop’s mahogany cathedra is raised and placed behind the ambo with the celebrant’s chair facing it on the opposite side of the sanctuary. The sanctuary frieze has the central prayer of the Rosary inscribed:

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

An ambulatory surrounds the apse and connects the sacristy and bishop’s vestry. The sacristy is a vaulted space with mahogany cabinets, gilded plaster moldings, Eucharistic iconography and a small shrine to St. John Vianney, patron of priests. The bishop’s vestry is a smaller version of the sacristy with a shrine to Bishop St. John Neumann, patron of Bishops. The narthex at the entrance to the Shrine has a trompe-l’oeil mural of the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe painted by Anthony Visco. The substantial choir loft, located above the narthex, features a classical organ case constructed from mahogany. In the lower level there is planned a crypt chapel with an oratory for spiritual lectures and prayer as well as a Hall of Honor for donors and a foyer with shrines to the blesseds of the diocese. All of the architectural elements and furnishings in the Shrine were designed specifically for this house of prayer including the pews, light fixtures, cabinetry, and sanctuary furnishings.