2009 Design Award Winner

Mount Vernon Baptist Church
Mount Vernon Baptist Church provides state-of-the-art worship facilities and a community center.  The new building serves all of the church's programs for worship, fellowship, education, and community service.  The building wraps around a courtyard, which functions as an outdoor room.  Daylighting of the main worship space and Lobby reinforce the warm dynamic environment envisioned by the pastor.  The campus includes a 1,200-seat Sanctuary with a balcony, foyer/gathering space, television studio, offices, bookstore, gymnasium, classrooms, day-care center, credit union, multipurpose hall with kitchen, and training rooms.  Major exterior materials include masonry, aluminum panels and sunshades, window wall, and standing seam metal on sloping clerestory roof planes.

The outreach ministries of the Mount Vernon Baptist Church make it an integral part of daily life in this west side Chicago neighborhood.  The new Worship and Education Center is also integrated into the community by locating the Sanctuary prominently along Jackson Street.  The transparent façade of the Baptistry and Sanctuary make visible the most important activities to the community – worship and baptism.  The projecting balcony stair brings the congregation and community together inviting those passing by to join in worship.

The south façade of the Church is a balance of vision and screened glazing.  The open view panels and clerestory bring controlled daylight deep into the Sanctuary,  elevating the worship experience.  Sunscreens filter the daylight along the integral Sanctuary, and animate the space with an ever changing pattern of shade and shadow.

The north Sanctuary entrance faces the parking area and is also defined by a set of masonry piers beneath the ascending roof.   North facing windows allow diffused light to enter the Sanctuary and balance the screened daylight of the south façade.  The courtyard is visible through the transparent passage between the Sanctuary and education wing.  A drop-off area serves both the Sanctuary entry during worship and church office Lobby during business hours.

Worship and education activities are given their own identity with each function being located in a separate wing.  The landscaped courtyard brings a natural element to the hard urban site; provides access to daylight; and physically defines each wing.  An independent entry allows the education wing to be used after hours while maintaining secured access to the Sanctuary.  The credit union, meeting space, and gymnasium provide needed community services to the neighborhood.

The building section reveals a layering of vertical spaces that provides a continuity of experience and access to daylight in unexpected places.  The Main Lobby stops short to allow the roof form of the Sanctuary to be expressed freely.  The Baptistry roof extends above the Sanctuary, creating a clerestory level path for daylight to enter.  The balcony floor extends through the full height masonry wall marking the emotional transition to worship.  The second floor of the education wing is pulled back in the corridor to provide a double height space looking into the courtyard.  The clerestory in each second floor classroom provides a view of the sky and allows daylight to penetrate deeply into the space.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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