Religious
St. Mark Parish, New Church, Admin Building, Colonnade Connector, Site Development Southwest Ranches, FL
The project entails a new 1,200 seat church, a narthex building, and administrative facilities. Set in an existing parish context with existing school facilities, a new covered walkway forms a courtyard within the center of the parish to link all new and existing buildings, as well as to provide covered connections to parking at either side of the parish site. The church has a centrally planned seating arrangement with a surrounding ambulatory. In this manner, we created interior circulation around the sacred precinct analogous to and yet inverse to the configuration of the exterior circulation that feeds the parish’s facilities. An ample narthex building serves all gathering functions and meeting needs.
St.Patrick Church Addition, Renovation, Restoration Miami Beach, FL
The St.Patrick project entailed the complete and comprehensive renovation and restoration of this South Florida landmark.
The sanctuary was extended forward in order to decrease the distance between celebrant and congregation. Former shrine areas were reconfigured to open up the sanctuary. Thereby providing natural light and better access to the sanctuary and providing a context more supportive at the various liturgical functions located there, including the baptistry. Finishes were repacked throughout, including a new cedar plant ceiling. Wood, stone, and stucco create a closely coordinated material palate. Moisture damage was mitigated throughout. All systems were replaced. Lighting included new chandeliers and facial lighting on a dimmer system.
At the exterior, a major new element of the church was created by the addition of an elevated terrace at the front entrance approached by both monumental staircase and ramp. New St. Mary and St/ Patrick shrines were added to the sides of the terrace at grade to engage pedestrians approaching the church.
St. James Cathedral Restorations, Renovations, Additions Orlando, FL
In an odd interpretation of Vatican ll directives, this seat of the Bishop of Orlando and 1951 downtown landmark had been gutted and shorn of any possible indication of Catholic association by renovations performed during the 1980s. Our mandate was to resuscitate the devastated sanctuary and establish the inspiration and decorum required at these sacred envisions., To bring the celebrant closer to the congregation, the predella was extended into the nave.
Seating was significantly increased by adding a transept. The Daily chapel was replaced with massing in mirror symmetry to the transept. A choir and instrumentalist mezzanine was added to house the choir and musicians. Finishes and systems, including lightning and HVAC, were comprehensively replaced and upgraded. The original extensive precast trim and detailing, including the rose window at the church entrance were restored, replaced, or added to so as to systemic reinstate and reinvigorate the approach to detailing employed originally. A new entrance plaza comprised of stairs, ramps, and terraces was created to ameliorate procession and to provide a transition between interior and exterior where gathering can occur.
St. Gregory Church, Additions, Renovations Plantation, FL
The St. Gregory church program entailed invigorating the sanctuary and creating a sense of the sacred in that area appropriate to the performance of the liturgy. The additional setting was rewired, as well as spaces added for a meeting room and choir room. A primary goal was to create a distinctly Catholic presence visible from university dive capable of standing up to the increasing commercial presence on that street.
Accordingly, we enlivened the sanctuary by opening the reredos to a reservation at the base of a new tower. A large window at the base of the tower brings in natural light to the reservation and the sanctuary.
Additional seating was achieved by incorporating two side porches into the interior.
The creation of a large traditional tower facing the street was employed per the parish’s aesthetic mandate in order to achieve the required Catholic presence. A large porte-cochere was added to the entrance in order to provide covered access to the church, as well as to provide for outdoor gatherings at the extensive existing stairs located at the entrance.
St. William Church, Parish Hall, Narthex Building Additions Renovations Naples, FL
The St. William Church had extensive deferred maintenance issues rewiring remediation and needed to double the seating capacity. It also seeks to add a narthex building with a gathering hall, conference and bridal rooms, as well as a gift shop, toilet facilities, and other ancillary functions. The mandate was to achieve these objectives while maintaining both the proportions and aesthetics of the original church.
Various alternatives were studied extensively in order to fulfill the various programmatic criteria within the fairly strict sire confines and aesthetic criteria demanded by the parish, including maintaining the existing church height, retaining the mission quality of the original, and employing an exposed glulam structural approach similar to the original.
Ultimately, the existing church was raised and replaced with an enlarged church. The existing adjacent hall was renovated and a new narthex building was constructed in front of the new church. The entire complex was surrounded by a covered walkway which serves as direct access to parking available 360 degrees around the building(s). That amenity ties in well with the local climate and provides for outdoor gatherings in the intense South Florida sunshine or rain.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church Renovations to Sanctuary and Nave Coral Springs, FL
Kosinski was brought in on this project to design the sanctuary for the reconfiguration of a previously commercial-like space. The object was to be the space with the quality of the sacred worth of the liturgy. Towards that end, we opened up the roof to an octagonal clerestory corresponding to a circular sanctuary below. The ceiling steps back from the clerestory to create a vaulted space above the altar and celebrant. The reredos was disengaged from the back wall of the space to provide a lot of natural light on either side of the reservation. We designed all liturgical elements for the project.
St. Anne Church Restoration Renovation Hartford, CT
The project entailed the comprehensive restoration renovation of the existing church, focusing on an upgraded sanctuary. Restorations included canvas murals being applied to the refurbished barrel vaults of the sanctuary. The strategy was to increase light and enliven the sanctuary to better support the performance of the liturgy. Liturgical centers were created by reconfiguring existing architectural and liturgical components. Custom light fixtures were developed by the firm to integrate into the column capitals at the sanctuary in order to provide hidden local light sources; the project included full code compliance implementation at the church and the adjacent rectory.
Christ Lutheran Church, Renovations Oakland Park, FL
A hurricane destroyed the roof of this church and caused extensive interior damage. The renovation provided the opportunity to remove an existing balcony located at the entrance end of the building. This removal revealed the beautiful stained glass wall which adds a new dimension to the worship space. Also removed were the heavily stained wood panels on the walls. This added an uplift to the space and a greater appreciation of the stained glass windows. The organ pipes were retrofitted and became the new reredos at the sanctuary.
A simple yet dignified design approach for the finishes and furnishings imbued the space with a sense of the sacred. A new porcelain floor was installed. New pendant lighting was employed in tandem with wall sconces that now reveal the sculpture of the walls. Focal lighting supports the liturgical performance. New seating and liturgical furnishings were part of the project. The straightforward approach of the renovation highlights the inherent strengths and sculptural aspects of the existing architecture, including the play of light and sculpture at the perimeter walls where the roof girders seem to ‘float’ on the stained glass windows below.
Notre Dame D'Haïti Church, Miami, FL
The Notre Dame parish is the center of the Haitian Diaspora and is one of the most active and vibrant in Miami. To date, the parish had been forming a mass in a space associated with the school. That space was inadequate in terms of both size and configuration for the performance of the liturgy. The parish asked that a new 1,2000 seat church be designed to connect to that space via a narthex hall. The archdiocese required that the daily chapel force the reredos so as to share the tabernacle and to allow for overflow seating in the chapel to witness mass via a glazed reredos.
Traditional masin is very important to the parish and is seen as a means for the local Haitian population to bridge to the historic churches left behind in Haiti. A number of traditional iterations were instigated in relation to the motifs associated with historic Haitian churches. Ultimately a simple and direct approach was found to be most applicable to the near extreme budget parameters put in place to realize the scope required for the seating count. A basic gabled rectangular shape was employed with a shallow transept so as to keep the congregation close to the celebrant. These simple structural methods associated with this form kept cots to a minimum. The trusses' nave was designed to evoke associations with traditional churches in the Americas.
St. Patrick, Church Restoration Renovation Hartford, CT
The project entailed the renovation of the interior with the primary intent being to enhance the sanctuary and increase proximity between celebrant and congregation. Towards that end, the predella was pulled forward within the primary bay of this basilican church. The reservation was also pulled forward with a newly created reredos in panelized wood. Renovations included new finishes throughout, including a new stone floor, and new lighting.
First and Summerfield United Methodist Church Restoration Renovation New Haven, CT
The historic structure, originally built in 1849, occurred expensive damage due to a major fire. Damage was extensive, including the sanctuary, nave, steeple, roof, and the fellowship hall on the lower level. The roof was completely destroyed, leaving only the exterior walls standing. Having been adversely altered by a prior renovation at the turn of the century, the fire provided an opportunity to restore the church interior to a state closer to its original design, The project followed historic preservation guidelines and won recognition from the Connecticut Preservation Trust Foundation. A fast-tracked design and construction schedule were immediately implemented upon awarding the contract.
The 25,000 square foot interior was completely gutted and renovated, the steeple and pipe organ were repaired, the roof was replaced and code violations were corrected a new coffered ceiling with indirect lighting was installed. New window casings were designed and installed to enhance the verticality of the building's fenestration.
St.Mary Cathedral Crypt AIA Award of Honor Miami, FL
The program of this project entailed the provision of the internment of the bishops, monsignor, and clergy, as well the chapel associated with these environs. We had to find unused space within this tight, urban sight within which to implement such a function. We want to employ an underutilized area between the exciting cathedral and administrative offices at the level of the administration for this purpose. That existing condition is a seldom-used area carved out of the slope between the two facilities.
We engaged that cleft in the slope to provide a ceremonial garden above with direct access from the cathedral for procession and contemplation. At the lower level, we provide chapel and crypt, and columbaria chambers for internment. In this manner, a site amenity and enhancement are provided at the interior by investigating the relationship of grade between the cathedral and administration facilities.
We engage that cleft in the slope to provide a ceremonial garden above with direct access from the cathedral for procession and contemplation. At the lower level, we provide chapel and crypt, and columbaria chambers for internment. In this manner, amenity and enhancement are provided at the exterior by inverting the relationship of grade between the cathedral and administrative facilities. In addition to enhancing the site, the exterior liturgical procession is enhanced at the cathedral. Finishes within are of concrete and travertine. Natural light cascades down into the lower interior via light wells built into the garden parapet. Light also streams down into the chapel via solid light shafts embedded into the concrete above.
St.Mary Church Renovations Branford, CT
Our renovation of the St.Mary Church, Branford, CT entailed implementing new finishes throughout the interior, including new stone and wood flooring at the sanctuary and carpet at the nave aisles. The original neo-colonial church lacked any sense of scale or detail in the interior. In order to ameliorate that condition, we implemented a paneled wainscot at the existing HVAC perimeter feed knee-wall. The sanctuary was rearranged and enlarged, with the inclusion of a new pulpit.
We designed new liturgical centers and furnishings, including the pulpit, a reconfigured font, a new ambry, and an Infant of Prague Shrine. The font entailed the design and installation of a new marble basin of Emperador media sourced and fabrics in Italy. The other elements were of wood to match the original Colonial approach to the cursings at the church. New focal lighting at the sanctuary with full dining and the remote control was implemented where before there were no such controls in order to provide the performance of the liturgy with adequate and appropriate support.
St. Rose Church Renovations Meriden, CT
Our renovation of the St. Rose church entailed the reconfiguration of the sanctuary to pull it forward into a position more proximal to the congregation. Finishes were replaced throughout, including the implementation of a new wood-clad ceiling to add warmth to the space. Systems and lighting were replaced. The liturgical centers and their furnishings were reconfigured and created from original architectural elements. A glazed wall was deployed at the front of the rear balcony so as to define a narthex space below it for gathering and overflow viewing of mass.
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Windsor, VT
Built-in the local Georgian vernacular, this two-storied, gable roof building is in keeping with the architectural character of the town of Windsor, VR, the character in 1761. The church was designed as a western concept of the Jerusalem temple, for teaching as well as for worship. This approach was developed from the congregation’s recommendations and recalls early Jewish and Christian temples. The church's form is the result of a year of introspection by the community. The church is a simple, powerful geometric statement. The triumphal arch over the main entrance is a figurative symbol of spatial transition and contains a stained glass window titled the ‘Celebration of Life.
” Neatly, fitted into the geometry are the Repository Chapel of Blessed Sacrament, the Parish Hall, service areas, and classrooms which are located on an arched gallery overlooking the nave. The interior finishes are natural materials, including brick and native woods. Permanent artwork, statuary, and furnishings in the church have been carefully considered so that the position, color, and design provide a sense of continuity and harmony. A side-entry court, shielded from the street by a high wall and bell tower provides a transitional space for community interaction before and after church activities. The unusual bell tower of brick with limestone coping is topped by a metal arch with a sound system and the church’s bell.
St. John Vianney Church West Haven, CT
The program for the project was to create a church and to create community. Towards those goals, a church, an administrative wing, a parish hall, and a rectory were designed and built. Although the massing is modern, the party is ancient in terms of Christian architectural precedent. Solid and void interlock to form the community around two courtyards, thereby providing sanctuary within an urban context.
Finishes in brick, stone, and wood are left as raw and elemental as possible, as inspired by the stone finishes of the French Romanesque and the structural brick masonry found below the original finish of Roman ruins. The square church space is encased in an ambulatory and fed by a clerestory above. Light wells funnel light to liturgical centers such as the baptistery and sanctuary. In this manner, light, shadow, and natural materials operate in unadorned relationships to each other as the context for the relationship between man and the sacred to be affirmed.
St.Matthias Church East Lyme, CT
The sanctuary and seating plan drive the design. An open octagonal plan with an offset sanctuary provides seating close to the celebrant with views towards the liturgy and the front of the altar. The octagonal massing is evocative of devotional Marian chapels. An ambulatory surrounds the church space and a narthex feeds the church. The finishes are in brick and stone. The marble liturgical furnishings were designed by Kosinski.
St.Matthew Church Forestville, CT
The St. Matthew church project required maximum seating and space achieved for bidet while creating their sacred environs. This highly stringent budget in combination with the goal of providing an open space with seating proximal to the sanctuary drove the design of this worship space. The concept was to reduce the side exterior perimeter walls under a ‘tent’. A large gable roof with a low spring line supported by glulam girders accomplished this. The square plan provides seating proximal to the altar. The exposed wooden structure and decking create a warm atmosphere in the interior. A textured glass reredos with liturgical seasonal hangings allows the chapel to serve as overflow space for the main nave.
Church of the Holy Family Hebron, CT
This church is situated in the colonial village of Hebron, CT. The community requested that the church be contemporary yet fit into the surrounding colonial architectural fabric. The program called for an open space with stacking chairs, and as much natural light as possible. This is achieved with the large windows with mountain grids. The building sits on a hillside which allows access at the lower level at grade to the parish community functions of hall and kitchen. Simple but elegant massing and finishes provide a calm and inspired building within the parish’s budgetary parameters.
Cloistered Benedictine Monastery Westfield, VT
In this project, we find the context for the defined relationship and adjacent religion, community, place, and climate. This is born out in the implications of the proximity of worshipers to the cloistered nuns. The proximity yet separation between laity and religion binds the two more closely together in the poignancy of their separation. The relationship to natural surroundings is highlighted in such dislocation. Rendering these relationships architecturally specifically within the parameters of the order was our mandate: while realizing a direct, honest, and humble facility was the ongoing directive.
Ceppa Memorial Chapel Meriden, CT
This chapel sits in an open area of a cemetery overlooking the valley below. In this chapel, the final prayers are said for the deceased before interment. The simple, powerful geometric design hints at the everlasting. The octagonal space with a domed ceiling views the heavens through the eight openings. The powerful structure of this pavilion chapel with its geometric centrality supports a contemplative, respectful mood.
St. Francis of Assisi Church Renovations Torrington, CT
The projects entailed the complete overhaul of the church’s interior. During the process of renovation, the demolition of existing finishes exposed a brick below which was found preferable to be left exposed to evoke the sense of solidity and warmth associated with the material. In accordance with that approach to materials, the liturgical elements were expressed as primal solids in granite.
The modern design of the liturgical elements and lighting operates in counterpoint to the age conveyed by the load-bearing brick construction. Lighting was in the form of simple glass tubes. The result is a sensitive rendering of the truth in material that creates a soft glow within the space strongly supportive of the liturgy. The gates to the reservation were hand fabricated in iron by local nuns. The new floor finish was in natural slate. The result is a variety of material that supports a sincere expression of the liturgy.
Trinity Lutheran Church and Parish Facilities Brewster, NY
The project entailed the creation of a new Sanctuary and Parish Facilities.
Additions and renovations to the Trinity Lutheran complex include a new 300 seat Sanctuary, a Library, Classrooms, Offices, and Multi-purpose Room. The octagonal structure entails a peaked roof and interior materials of exposed, naturally finished timber deck ceiling and laminated beams.
Corpus Christi Church Renovations Wethersfield, CT
The project entailed the overhaul of the church’s interior. The goal was to brighten the interior and to enhance the performance and participation with the liturgy at the sanctuary. Towards that end, the altar has been aligned towards the congregation and the sanctuary configured for effective circulation. A lighter finish has been applied throughout to both brighten the space and highlight the powerful geometry and details of the original structure. New liturgical centers were developed to coordinate with the architecture.
St. Mary of Czestochowa Church, Renovations Middletown, CT
The project included the refurbishment of the interior, the renovation of finishes throughout the replacement of systems including lighting, and the reconfiguration of the sanctuary to be more effective liturgically and to evoke a connection to associations with the icon and history of Czestochowa.
Towards those ends, the sanctuary was pulled forward so as to create proximity between the celebrant and congregation. The reredos was also pulled forward as a screen designated sacred precincts within the area of the sanctuary, including the reservation. Throughout, imagery and symbolism applicable to Czestochowa were employed in fishes and in the configuration of the reredos screen, including the blue Fleurs de lys pattern associated with the pattern on the icon.
Cenacle for Priests Tulsa, OK
We were asked to design a monastic retreat to house Benedictine brothers and members of those clergy members wishing to live in a sequestered environment for limited periods of time in order to focus on and reinvigorate the spirit. This context would also provide a place for the laity to find respite from their busy daily lives, a peaceful place for contemplation imbued with the qualities fostered by those cloistered there. Working within the parameters and precepts of the Benedictines, we developed a master plan based on their parameters for the establishment of an abbey-like context. Accordingly, a covered gallery providing circulation surrounds the cloister garth, the central courtyard within which herbs and vegetables will be grown and both clergy and laity can inhabit.
The church provides occupation in a presbytery by the clergy in sequestered prayer structures while the laity has a separate seating area within which to participate in the mass. Segregated facilities are provided for the laity, while a chapter house, refectory, and library are provided for the clergy. The clergy’s rooms, their cells, were developed in detail so as to provide the dual functions of a private residence, including storage and bathing, while also providing specific provisions to support mediation and adoration within the cell. In that manner, a communal context specific to the clergy is provided along the lines of the Rule of St. Benedict, as well as the context for private devotion and prayer, and also the ability for controlled participation and coexistence with the laity.
Our Lady of Guadalupe New Church and Parish Campus Complex Doral, FL
Our design for the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and Parish Complex was performed for a design-build competition. The program called for a church with a narthex, daily chapel, and adoration chapel accessible 24/7 directly from the exterior. It also called for an administrative and parish hall building accessible by a covered connection to parking. It called for a ‘Guadalupan’ approach to the design. A rigorous budget was a serious factor.
In response to the programmatic goals and approach indicated, we separated the parish hall and administrative functions and positioned them as arms flanking a newly formed courtyard that embraces the new parish center thereby created., Per programmatic dictate, coerced access is provided from parking to all facilities. The central plaza and church are approached via a central walkway spanning the primary parking area. A roundabout provides a drop-off method and flexibility for vehicular routing at parking.
The administrative and parish functions that flank the church join the main church buildings at the ends of the narthex hall, thereby unifying the entire complex with both covered or fully protected enclosures. That end of the church provides the location for the all-day accessible narthex wing with daily and adoration chapel functions. The church is accessed off of the narthex and can be secured while all narthex wing functions are available throughout the day. The church layout includes shallow transepts to provide seating around and close to the predella. Per program, devotional shrine areas are provided, in this case at a dedicated shrine chapel at the apse.
St. Mary Church Bell Tower AIA Award of Excellence Branford, CT
The bell tower was commissioned to provide an emblematic presence and a pedestrian scale on the street. It was required to house the bell from the church that had previously burnt down on the site. The pastor asked that the new tower function more as a sculpture or landscape element rather than an architectural tower, and that it compliments though not bow to the stylistic qualities of the various adjacent buildings on the site, that it be neither too modern nor too traditional.
Accordingly, we referenced a primary classical basis for church design, the interaction between circle and square as the basis from which the geometry would emerge. We let the diagrammatic and scalar interplay of those geometric constructs be revealed starkly in plan and in section, The diagrammatic reference is also delineated via material change, highlighted by the metal armature from which the bell is suspended. For the material palette, we employed red brick, limestone, and unfinished metal in reference to key material components of the parish’s exterior finishes.
St. John Vianney Colonia, NJ
The parish’s program entailed the provision of a new church, including a narthex gathering wing, a choir practice room, shrines areas, sacristies, and reconciliation rooms. Key to the owner’s program was the desire to connect to the generous exterior landscaping both in terms of views and for outdoor gathering and processional connection to the church. Towards that end the outdoors is connected visually and in the building’s massing at four corners dedicated to shrines.
Also integral to the program was the desire to have all functions immediately accessible from the church. The parti was derived from the scalar dynamic between circle and square. The resultant plan aligned with the owner’s desire for a radial seating plan. The result was a central, light-filled church with glazed corners and opaque massing at each of the four walls using discrete functions at each point of the compass.
St. Peter Church, Renovations
Danbury, CT
The project’s program entailed the reconfiguration of the sanctuary to better serve participation in the liturgy, the refurbishment of finishes at the interior, and the update of lighting and systems at the church. Accordingly, the sanctuary platform was extended forward towards the congregation. The predella was refinished in stone. The firm also designed the new liturgical centers and furnishings.
St. Marguerite Bourgeoys New Church and Parish Facilities Brookefield, CT
The project includes a new 18,000 SF church and a full set of parish facilities, including a narthex hall, a parish hall, and a kitchen. In order to achieve both the religious functions and build the physical basis for this community within a highly stringent budget, approaches to structure, such as the employment of glulam girders, and finishes were chosen to realize the greatest square footage possible within an aesthetic appropriate to the facility’s use. The square plan allows radial pews around a circular sanctuary with an overhead light scoop which floods the sanctuary with daylight. The wood girders and beams contrasted against the off-white ceilings and walls create a warm atmosphere.