Square Footage
|
Approx. 44,500 SF |
Project Scope
|
The new 44,500 square-foot St. Bonaventure Parish School includes an administration and welcome center, conference facilities, media center, computer classroom, pre-kindergarten classrooms, elementary and middle school classrooms, art and science room, music room, a Ministries Hall, a Parish Pavilion, and various support spaces. The Ministries Hall will be a multi-use space with kitchenette for youth and other parish ministries as well provide space a daytime respite care program. The new 8,000 square-foot Parish Pavilion is designed to transform from a basketball court with retractable spectator seating, to a dining facility for students and other catered events, to an auditorium with seating for performances and presentations. An outside lunch court adjacent to the Parish Pavilion will allow parish and school events to take advantage of the moderate California climate through large pivoting doors that open onto it. The school will house pre-kindergarten through 8th grade students as well as classrooms available for extended care. Classrooms will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and learning tools, while also being able to also accommodate other parish functions in the evening and on weekends such as religious education and faith formation. The new facilities will serve all age groups of the Parish. Children will enjoy educational and sports opportunities, adults will have spaces for gathering, education, socializing, and building community. |
Budget / Construction Cost
|
Approx. $12.5M |
Unusual Characteristics:
|
The overall building organization was developed around segments of two circles. The first circle is centered on the narthex of the church, signifying the inner community, while the second larger circle extends beyond the constraints of the site, relating to the larger community that the church serves. These two circles interlock at their tangents, opposite the entry to the existing church. |
Special Challenges:
|
A compact 9-acre site, surrounded on all four sides by single-family homes required a strong dialog between the Parish, its Neighbors, the Design Team and local Planning Department. Placing vehicle circulation and parking at the perimeter of the site and placing the new buildings together at the center of the site creates an inner pedestrian zone. This strategy helped to maximize building setbacks from the neighboring residential properties, providing privacy and an intensely landscaped buffer from parish activities and student play areas. |
Solution:
|
The new facility is designed to integrate parish and school functions. It is placed on the site to allow free pedestrian access to and from the Church without crossing vehicular traffic. Its curved shape is designed to create an activated exterior courtyard space between the Church and the new facility while emphasizing the Church’s entry and geometry. The courtyard space is designed with water and fire features including a full-immersion baptismal pool. An amphitheater will allow for outdoor functions to occur in the courtyard.
The new facility includes two basic geometric organizational features: a semi-circular two level walkway, framing the central courtyard and focusing on the sanctuary, with program spaces attached to it, and a partial nautilus volume complementing the semi-circle containing the double-height Parish Pavilion and two-story Learning Center. The center of the semi-circle is the narthex of the Church. These forms are interrupted strategically to allow passage and views from the parking to the Church courtyard while focusing again on the Church entry and other key site features.
The Welcome Center is located at the front of the campus, and houses the administration, media center, and conference spaces. The Parish Pavilion is located at the lowest point on the site, and uses the topography in order to reduce its overall height. The classroom building is situated so it has easy access to the pavilion, inner courtyard, and hardscape play areas. The Pre-K/Kindergarten Center is located in the most protected and secluded area, adjacent to the Memorial Garden and Turf Play Area.
|
|
