St. Boniface Episcopal Church — Mequon, Wis.

Development Team
OWNER: St. Boniface Church, Mequon, Wis.
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Berghammer Construction Corp., Butler, Wis.
ARCHITECT, STRUCTURAL ENGINEER, MECHANICAL ENGINEER, ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Inc., Milwaukee
CIVIL ENGINEER: STS Consultants, Milwaukee
ROOFING: F.J.A. Christiansen Roofing, Milwaukee
GLASS AND GLAZING: Klein-Dickert, Pewaukee, Wis.
CARPET AND VCT: Lippert Tile Co. Inc., Menomonee Falls, Wis.
PAINTING AND WALLCOVERING: Porta Painting, Milwaukee
ELECTRICAL: Spectrum Electric Inc., Mequon, Wis.
ROOF FRAMING: Wood-Lam Inc., Pewaukee, Wis.

The St. Boniface parish had outgrown its 1950s-era worship space, so it decided to build a new worship space while converting the existing one into an education space.

A gathering space was also required for social functions, as were spaces for a sacristy and music storage.

Seeking Civic Presence

Feeling that its existing structures "made us invisible," the client asked that the new building become a "distinctive civic presence."

The new worship space faces the street. This also transformed existing buildings into background elements.

At the point between the new and old buildings, a copper spire was sited. An entrance in the base of the spire has a red door in remembrance of the saints.

The resulting pie-shaped open space between the new worship space, the spire and the existing administration wing became the gathering space, which was clad in glass with a view of the woods in back.

The new worship space features a low and dark base of earthen bricks, which anchor it in the ground.

Inside, the base is continued with heavily burnished concrete masonry and cast-in-place concrete piers, which are massive and battered to emphasize their connection to the earth. Nestled inside the base is a light and airy volume of wood sheathed in copper sheets and a steep gable. The new space is framed in laminated timbers and Douglas Fir decking, resulting in a rich room.

The timbers are kept as light as possible through the use of steel tensile rods to produce a truss and minor compression members. The trusses are supported on battered cast-in-place concrete piers, which are located inside the building, establishing a sacred space.

A huge clerestory window behind the altar faces north, allowing a view of the sky and the treetops of a small forest. The wind bracing forms a timber cross.

The worship space is almost entirely clad in copper to establish it as familiar and accessible, but also unusual and strange.

The altar of two blocks of limestone is placed atop a platform of white birch. They are thrust into the worship space, with pews of cherry on a slate floor arranged in a combination of antiphonal and basilican seating types. The combination produces intimacy and close proximity to liturgical activity.

A music area is located behind the altar, flanked by elevated organ lofts, which sit atop the sacristy and a music storage room.

The jury said, "Unusual and beautiful and a very striking project. The architecture is very distinct. Also, the use of structure is beautifully integrated. It's a nice use of materials. Very well done."

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