St. Joseph Catholic Church

JGMA worked with the parish of St. Joseph to design the addition of an existing 300 seat church. Built in the early 1900s, the existing church once comfortable housed the entire parish however it has experienced consistent growth over the last ten years The proposed addition would seat an additional 1600 people and drastically alter and enhance the church’s presence within the historic district of the downtown Elgin community. Adhering to the town’s strict historic district guidelines which called for the use of natural building materials, the church addition is clad with a vertically oriented limestone rain screen façade that vastly complements the red brick of the existing church. The lower level of the church addition is accessed from streel level and is wrapped in a multi-colored ribbon of contiguous glass, creating a vibrant experience for both street pedestrians as well as the parish and community events inside the space.