A fellow Kiwanian and cigar smoking Irish priest hired Fitts architects to design a church building which would comply with the mandate of Vatican II. My client had the good sense to hire a young consultant from Rambush to explain just what the mandate said as regards a Roman Catholic worship center.
I wanted elemental materials inside and out. Brick cavity walls were my answer. The fragility of the brick cavity wall is offset by lacing the building with bush hammered concrete beams and columns.
The seated congregation wraps about half way around the chancel space which backs up to a tall brick wall which is flooded with light from a north facing clerestory window. The window is actually a glazed truss which spans the width of the auditorium at about mid height and which picks up the lower roof to the rear and supports the higher roof to the front of the worship space.