Items of Interest January 17, 2011 Issue

21st-century church design mindful of mission over maintenance

“From reinvented big box store to streetscape cathedral, architecture competition winners re-imagine the House of Worship” www.terracompr.com November 16, 2010

Religious congregations are often saddled with outdated structures designed for an earlier period. Though beautiful and built at great sacrifice, many of these houses of worship don’t serve the needs of modern congregations and communities. Nor are they the most environmentally friendly. Yet, when a congregation decides to build, it often looks to older buildings as models. 

The nonprofit organization Faith in Place recently challenged architects to develop creative solutions to the building problems faced by today’s congregations. The competition was sponsored by The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. “The Building: Problem or Solution?” competition criteria included buildings that integrate with the broader community while serving it, have eco-friendly and sustainable features, among others. 

“Our goal was to develop ideas that will help congregations considering significant remodeling or new construction,” said Rev. Dr. Clare Butterfield, executive director of Faith in Place. “We want to see the house of worship transformed from a burden to congregations to a vehicle for solving the many problems they address—from social services to education to civic engagement and more. So enabling these buildings to be used fully every day was key.” 

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