St. Mary Chapel
This new hospital chapel accommodates daily, Catholic liturgical uses including Mass for 30 regular attendees and seasonal functions that can draw 80+ attendees. The hospital, while Catholic in its mission, seeks to serve other faiths and established a design brief including three main spiritual spaces, the main Catholic Chapel (with Sacristy), The Muslim Prayer Space (with proper facilities for ablution rites) and a non-denominational reflection space. Three material expressions of the project (brick, stone and dichroic glass) are extensions of ongoing design research into digital fabrication workflows and technologies of environmental performance and elevate the experience of the Chapel.
The interior of the Chapel is enlivened using dichroic glass and custom CNC carved stone liturgical elements. The most prominent exterior corner of the Chapel expresses the important position of the tabernacle inside and deploys complex brick patterning to bring detail and dynamic light qualities through workflows linking digital modeling with the mason’s practices.
Project Details
Project Location | Livonia, Michigan
Status | Completed, September 2018
Principals in Charge | Craig Borum, FAIA, Jen Maigret, AIA, William Carpenter, AIA
PLY+ Project Team | Andrew Wolking, Masataka Yoshikawa, Yibo Jiao, Yusi Zha, Arvin Yu, Annabelle Guan, Jiashi Yu, Michie Nimsombun, Markus Boynton, Maggie Shao, Dinghao Zhou
Liturgical Space Consultant | Fr.Gilbert Sunghera S.J., UDM Liturgical Consulting Service
Structural Engineer | SDI Structures
MEP Engineer | IMEG Corp.
Acoustic Consultant | Arcgeometer
Lighting Consultant | Illuminart
Construction Manager | Granger Construction
Photography | Jason Keen, Adam Smith, Jeffrey Kilmer
Awards
Faith and Form International Design Award
Editor’s Selection, Best of Design Awards, Architects Newspaper
Society of American Registered Architects National Design Award of Excellence (highest honors)
AIA Detroit Honor Award
Illuminating Engineering Society, Illumination Award of Merit
AIA Michigan People’s Choice Award (one project selected per year)
AIA Michigan Design Honor Award
Masonry Institute / AIA Michigan Award of Excellence in Masonry Design
Society of American Registered Architects, NY Council, Design Award (National Award)
Illuminating Engineering Society, Illumination Award of Merit