Our firm worked with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to expand their existing facilities and to unify their buildings in a campus-like setting. The new program spaces support the worship, educational outreach and social programs of the 2,000-member parish.

Built in 1949, the existing Church is a simple Gothic building located in a residential neighborhood north of downtown Indianapolis. Early in the design process, it was decided that the worship space should be re-oriented 180-degrees and an addition created on the south end of the existing building to accommodate a new organ and a larger chancel. The re-orientation allows for a new organ to fill the sanctuary with sound and accommodates the entry sequence that congregants take from the parking area to the sanctuary. As part of the site design, 61st Street, which previously separated the Church from the Parish Center, was closed and developed as a garth, or enclosed garden, linking the two buildings and providing an intimate outdoor gathering space.

A new lobby and narthex was created adjacent to the garth to provide generous daylit spaces for gathering before and after services. A new bell tower, with swinging, cast bronze bells, marks the entry to the complex and provides visibility for the Church as one approaches from the city.