The Shrine of St. Bernadette
An Architect’s “Enlightening” Case for Renovation

by Brian Cassidy, AIA

Renovating a building originally designed to be a temporary place of worship into a permanent one might sound like a big challenge. But thanks to proper planning and cooperation between the architect, building committee, contractor and other important constituents, it was also an extremely rewarding and fulfilling task.

Now that it’s finished, I can say the renovation of the Shrine of St. Bernadette in Albuquerque, N.M., has exceeded everyone’s expectations — including mine, an architect with high expectations.

I distinctly remember my first thoughts upon driving up to the parish in early 2000. The existing design had two common flaws frequently found on church campuses built 40-plus years ago.

First, the parking lot is located in the middle of the property, with the church on one side and the parish hall and classrooms on the other. When the parking lot is full, walking between the two areas of the campus is like navigating a moving maze. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to rectify this issue.

The second flaw — a big one — was that the church itself was dull, uninspiring and unrecognizable as the main place of worship.

When the design work on the project was initiated, we explored our only three options:

1. Tear down the church and build a new one;
2. Implement a minor cosmetic upgrade of the building; or
3. Give it a major facelift.

We moved forward with the third.

Challenges Abound

Of course, there were a few mitigating factors I haven’t mentioned. First, the building (built in the 1950s) was a prefabricated steel structure with a low, sloped roof, poor lighting, dark colors and unattractive lighting fixtures.

For security reasons, the church housed a small chapel within the worship space, and a heavy wrought-iron grille separated it from the church. This evoked a common question posed by parishioners:

“Can you get Jesus out of jail?”

The existing entry narthex to this church — which was about 10 feet deep — had no natural light and was oriented to the street corner of a suburban neighborhood. As a result, no one entered the church through any form of a gathering space. In fact, almost everyone entered through a side-exit alcove that brought them nearly to the chancel area — a huge distraction if someone was late for Mass.

Inside the church, it was impossible to gain any additional height or air volume.

A prefabricated steel building is designed to be a very economical, preventing elevation of the building’s height or the addition of any significant dead-load weight to the structure without significant cost.

The existing chandeliers were much too large for the low ceiling. Plus, they looked like propellers with tacky lights attached.

Solutions!

These design challenges were met in a variety of ways.

First, we extended the length of the narthex to the south — up to the front building setback line — and moved a set of ceremonial doors to the side of the new narthex. This encouraged the congregation to enter at the new entry point of the church.

The new design also made the large Shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes the focal point of the new entry point, drawing individuals into the narthex before making them turn right and walk into the main body of the church.

The new narthex volume was taller than the existing church, letting us introduce multiple sources of natural light. An existing statue of St. Bernadette was moved to an area near the ceremonial doors to create a welcoming appeal.

The entire set of original lighting fixtures was abandoned. A new group of recessed can-lighting fixtures were used to create a higher and more even level of light, and to eliminate visual clutter on the ceiling.

All the new lighting circuits were connected to an existing light-dimming control system which was installed 10 years prior. The new light configuration resulted in a significant cost savings and tremendously improved lighting quality within the church.

The prime structural steel beams were wrapped with drywall, creating a series of coffers in the ceiling and recapturing muchneeded volume.

A series of dark-stained wood wainscoting on the side walls of the church were removed and replaced with light-colored, painted drywall. This provides a much more durable and elegant look within the church. (In fact, all the new paint colors inside the church are lighter for greater light reflectance and a much warmer environment.)

For a more spacious feel, we redistributed the fire sprinkler system within the small amounts of ceiling cavity available. We also replaced the outdated sound system with high-quality microphones and speakers.

Special Additions

One of the most remarkable transformations within the church is the introduction of beautifully patterned granite flooring. It lends a sense of permanence and rich beauty, and the highly polished surfaces — combined with the several medallions within the floor pattern — really enhance the feeling of spirituality.

Dan Paulos, business manager for the parish and an accomplished artist, designed the new baptistery, altar, ambo and chair. These key liturgical elements are also made of granite to complement the floor palette.

The baptistery was placed in an area of prominence adjacent to the chancel. Now it’s highly visible and has an area for full-immersion baptisms.

The tabernacle was redesigned and placed on the center axis behind the chancel area. A simple, sliding metal grill was designed, providing full visibility to the tabernacle before and after Mass, and creating a focus on the altar and the table of sacrifice during worship. The lighting-control systems also reinforce this shift in focus.

In the Beginning...

St. Bernadette’s Fr. Tom Zotter originally insisted that if the church couldn’t build new, its renovation must “make jaws drop.” Anything less and we’d know we applied band-aid solutions — but we didn’t do that.

Today, when I drive up to The Shrine of St. Bernadette, it actually looks like a Catholic church. Plus, I know it meets all current liturgical requirements.

This project inspires me every time I’m asked to consider renovating a generic church. It reinforces the fact that there’s an obtainable solution for every renovation challenge.

Brian Cassidy, AIA, is the president of CCBG Architects with offices in Phoenix and San Diego. The firm specializes in planning and designing religious campuses, with an emphasis on worship spaces. For details, visit www.ccbg-arch.com or e-mail bcassidy@ccbg-arch.com.