St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Indianapolis, IN
Street Closure Allows for New Garden
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is located in a residential neighborhood north of downtown Indianapolis; it is dedicated to serving local youth and the community. Its church is a simple Gothic building constructed in 1949. We worked with St. Paul’s 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.
Early in the design process, we collectively decided that the worship space should be reoriented 180 degrees from its existing direction and an addition should be created on the south end of the existing building to accommodate a new organ and a larger chancel. The reorientation allows for the new organ to fill the sanctuary with sound and reconfigures the path that congregants take from the parking area to the sanctuary.
The creation of a courtyard between the parish hall and the sanctuary provides a welcoming campus environment. We worked with the City of Indianapolis and neighbors to close 61st Street, which previously separated the church from the parish center, and redeveloped the area as an enclosed garden that links the two buildings and provides an intimate outdoor gathering space.
Take the virtual tour.
Project Team
Structural Engineer: Silvercreek; MEP Engineer & Circle Design Group;
Landscape Architect: Ground Reconsidered; Liturgical Consultant: Terry Byrd Eason;
Construction Manager: Shiel Sexton