Friday, 8 September 2017

The Church of St Aloysius, New Jersey



The church of St Aloysius is a 17,800 sq ft building, designed by Erdy McHenry Architecture. The church is located in New Jersey, United States of America. The project year was in 2009.


The design concept was drawn from “re-pitching the tent”. This concept is seen on the delicate soaring roof lines envoking the concept of simple worship. The roof anchors four concrete buttresses honouring the four devotions of St. Aloysius: Blessed Sacrament, Passion of our Lord, Love of our Lady, and Choir of Angels.  These devotional are translated into daily chapel, the children liturgy space, the sacristy and the choir.




According to the Architects, “the Beams are 45ft and between are three layers of half-inch plywood” and because it is a tensile-type structure, there is a great economy to that”.
The hyperbolic paraboloid roof is used most often as inexpensive solutions to long span roof requirements. The tent of St. Aloysius Church is fabricated from standing seam metal panels, a technology usually used for sport areas.
 



The fabric shape tent roof, allows for fluid lines on the exterior and an intimate breakup of interior spaces, as well as a light structure to cover the St Aloysius church massive building.



The roof of this building is one of the most striking elements in this building. The Architect added a meeting space which serves as a corridor that connects the old church building to the new church building. The church arrangement is like an amphitheatre or an auditorium, with the alter placed against one corner.

Images © Alan Schindler

 


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