WBA Charleston Church Projects

CECIL B. DAY WORSHIP AND MINISTRY CENTER

PERIMETER CHURCH, JOHNS CREEK, GEORGIA

With a congregation of 6,000, Perimeter Church provides a unique worship experience for the diverse
community of Johns Creek, Georgia. The Cecil B. Day Worship and Ministry Center was envisioned as a
place to provide an intimate venue for smaller worship opportunities, including weddings, funerals and
musical services. Wakefield Beasley was challenged to incorporate the best of classic architectural
traditions with the seamless and non-intrusive technological requirements of modern worship. By
working very closely with the church’s technical staff and industry-leading audio-visual consultants, the
firm was able to effectively conceal and minimize the visual impact of these technologies and other
building systems to create a warm space without distractions. Heavy timber framing and exposed T&G
wood decking conceal structural steel shapes and create an inspiring worship facility that welcomes
parishioners to the 31,000-square-foot space with what has been described by visitors as a “warm hug.”

12STONE CHURCH

LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA

Wakefield Beasley is a major player in the design and creation of structures that support religious
worship across the nation. But for 12Stone Church, the firm was presented with a unique, local
challenge: provide a satellite church campus in the existing John C. Maxwell Leadership Training Center
in nearby Lawrenceville, Georgia. The firm focused on communicating constantly with the church to
foster a cooperative attitude and willingness to collaborate among all project stakeholders. The result
was a 1,000-seat worship center blended seamlessly with the training center and its myriad of
community services. The facility suits the fast-growing, casual atmosphere of the multi-location church
and includes large spaces for children’s and student ministries.

EDP Collaborative served as the Design Architect.

PASSION CITY CHURCH

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

WBA provided architectural design services to the Passion City Church project resulting in a
redevelopment of an existing vacant building and site into a state-of-the-art church facility. Both the
existing structure and site underwent a complete transformation to respond to the new development
program. The church facilities engage the site in a very different manner, creating the need for an
overall redesign of the parking and vehicular circulation patterns. In addition to the parking, a new
outdoor plaza and landscaping improvements are the focal points of the new site design.

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PERIMETER CHURCH LOBBY RENOVATION

JOHNS CREEK, GEORGIA

Perimeter Church, a long standing patron of WBA, had been in need of an expanded lobby that would
allow more social interaction among the members and visitors of their growing community. The lobby
would need to accommodate several hundred people at a time, particularly between services, so that
people could mingle and get to know each other. They also wanted it to be light filled and comfortable,
with a scale that suited people visiting the facilities on a weekday as well as for those attending Sunday
worship. WBA also designed an integrated café to provide snacks and prepared meals for weekday
encounters, as well as, serve as a coffee shop with baristas and areas for study and interaction. A
refresh of all finish materials and colors was accomplished throughout to unify and update the look and
feel of the facilities. The new space is called “The Atrium” as a result of seeing how beautifully lit and
creatively appointed the interior finishes were implemented.

ANNUNCIATION CATHOLIC CHURCH

COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI

The Church of the Annunciation is the oldest Catholic Church in northeast Mississippi. The cornerstone
was laid on May 4, 1863, and the church was used as a hospital for both Confederate and Union soldiers
during the Civil War which delayed completion of the project for almost 15 years. In the late 1990’s, the
church undertook both an exterior and interior restoration and a major expansion to the east (the site of
the former Rectory) to create a new 800 seat assembly area while converting the much-loved historic
church structure to a day chapel. The addition is architecturally sympathetic to the old church while
providing contemporary amenities in liturgical and administrative support spaces, bathrooms and cry
rooms, and a thoughtful conveyance of parishioners from street to parking to narthex to worship space.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for this church with CMA.

BASILICA OF SAINT LAWRENCE

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino designed (and is buried in) the basilica of Saint Lawrence, which was
completed in 1909 using his patented tile self-supporting dome. This project is still ongoing, designed to
stabilize the dome and add a Family Life Center, gathering and educational spaces, and a Eucharistic
Adoration Chapel to the existing Rectory building, which itself will be renovated to accommodate
modern office and administrative functions. In addition, the project was designed to be compatible with
the significant urban renewal in the area proposed by the City of Asheville. Stylistically, the Family Life
addition incorporates the details and proportions of the Rectory, reinforcing the typology that supports
the historic structure and allows it to predominate the Basilica’s architectural “face” to the new plaza.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for this church with his own former firm Verdi.

GOOD SHEPHERD EPISCOPAL CHURCH

DECATUR, ALABAMA

Good Shepherd is truly a community-based church in the Diocese of Alabama. It was initially formed by
community members, and serves its community with a student café and a weekly farmer’s market on-
site that were planned for within the conceptual design, along with a future school addition. The new
sanctuary is augmented by educational classrooms and assembly areas and parish administrative offices,
with a large gathering hall and fully accessible landscape and garden areas for all parishioners. The
church features a Carpenter Gothic aesthetic popular in the region and with the congregations, with
shaded indoor/outdoor gathering spots and an expansive view of the community lawn and surrounding
countryside through the pair of gothic-arched windows at the front of the worship space.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for this church with CMA.

CHURCH OF THE LIVING CHRIST

MADISON, WISCONSIN

With the same energetic Pastor now for 30 years, the Church of the Living Christ has anticipated and
guided their growth as a Parish, transforming and preserving their original small gathering building into
what is now the “Fireside Room” and adding to it within a phased Master Plan: first a new large
sanctuary and classrooms – from which they run a successful and acclaimed pre-school – then a family
life addition including more classrooms, a kitchen and activity center/gym, a nursery, youth room, and
assembly space. Most recently they’ve added a new courtyard – the Garden of All Saints – and
columbarium. The sanctuary features a striking bell tower and light shaft featuring stained glass corner
wall behind the altar, with exposed wood trusses reflecting the area’s cultural construction traditions.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for this church with CMA.

SAINT EUGENE CATHOLIC CHURCH

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

The original Saint Eugene church was built in the 1960’s and featured a then-common architectural
aesthetic known as the “oil can” church, hexagonal and self-contained… and impossible to add to (even
according to the original architect). That fortunately turned out not to be true: the parish building
committee wanted to add major gathering, kitchen, educational, and administrative spaces plus a
gathering plaza with a planned columbarium and labyrinth, all on a sloping mountain site with typical
local zoning requirements for parking, etc. And so a design was developed and built that successfully
accomplished all these things, mirroring the hexagonal and roof forms in the addition, in the plaza, and
in a day chapel addition that also houses a beautiful and traditional fresco by renowned artist Ben Long.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for tis church with his own former firm Verdi.

SAINT JOHN THE BELOVED CATHOLIC CHURCH

SUMMERVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA

Saint John the Beloved – in the Diocese of Charleston – has a unique (but well developed and thus
enduring) early 70’s shed-roof style with a predominately wood and brick interior. When prominent
New York area pipe organ builder Peragallo was contacted for this project to create and add a pipe
organ to this structure, they and the design team decided to nevertheless develop a more classic
expression and use proportion, materials, and location and arrangement – and most importantly, the
carefully tuned character of the sound – to successfully integrate the installation within the existing
architecture. The new organ presides over a carefully detailed choir rostrum that coordinates with the
instrument and provides a variety of configurations for large and small performances in addition to
regular Mass services.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for this church with CMA.

SAINT JOHN CATHOLIC CHURCH

NORTH CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

Saint John’s is in an interesting spot: it’s near the old Navy Base and so suffered when that closed, but is
also in an area to be redeveloped as a new urban center from which the parish will benefit. So a Master
Plan was developed to include an expansion to and remodeling of the current Sanctuary along with a
new narthex/gathering space to connect the church to the existing fellowship hall (also to be expanded).
The on-site K-8 school will be updated with a middle school expansion wing, and with new parking and
drop off areas and a revitalized playground and covered walk to the other campus buildings. The school
and church have both been upgraded recently with energy saving windows and doors, and HVAC
enhancements consistent with the congregation’s Master Plan and Sustainable Development agenda.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for this church with his own former firm Verdi.

SAINT MARK LUTHERAN CHURCH

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

It’s not the grand structure the large historic churches downtown, but Saint Mark Lutheran Church is a
well-designed and well-built (and well-attended) congregation servicing central Asheville. They needed
a new organ and a revitalization of the Sanctuary layout and finishes. The organ was built by the Martin
Ott company in a style sympathetic with the more formal yet still “highland” architectural feel, a stylistic
treatment carried over into the refurbished choir and altar and lectern. New lighting fixture interior
workings finally provided workable light at the pew level within the original decorative glass housings.
The pews themselves were canted towards each other, to revise the former front-to-back alignment and
allow parishioners to better see and interact with one another during the services, and both the choir
rehearsal and the sacristy received architectural updates.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for this church with CMA.

SAINT THERESA CATHOLIC CHURCH

SUMMERVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA

Saint Theresa is a fast growing congregation in a fast growing area of Dorchester County near Charleston
in the Diocese of Charleston. They have significant expansion needs for the future (and could have used
most of these spaces a year or two ago) and so a Master Plan for their current site and facilities was
developed to include a Phase I Family Life Center and Phase II Education Building. These two additions
will create a cloistered courtyard with existing Sanctuary and Administrative buildings. The Phase III
Gymnasium will connect to the Family Life Center via covered drop-off, with a final Phase IV new on-site
Rectory. The Master Plan design reflects the existing Spanish Mission architecture, and the site will be
re-configured to provide better ingress/egress along with new sports and play field areas.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for this church with his own former firm Verdi.

SUMMERVILLE CATHOLIC SCHOOL MASTER PLAN

SUMMERVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA

The Summerville Catholic School was designed to be a simple and inexpensive facility, using local
materials and regional architectural elements. The facility Design/Build was provided by a local general
contractor after the Master Plan sketches and concepts were developed for the Diocese of Charleston.
The Master Plan was later revisited to include repairs/corrections to the original construction, along
with a comprehensive programmatic needs assessment and graphic and written guidance for future
expansion of the facility.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for this project with his own former firm Verdi.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

SWANNANOA, NORTH CAROLINA

The First Presbyterian Church is an old church, with access needs to serve an aging congregation while at
the same time attracting younger parishioners by providing physical connections to existing underused
spaces and expanding gathering areas. The site demanded careful design attention to preserve
mountain views and to enhance auto and pedestrian access on a reasonably steep piece of property.

WBA Senior Architect David Hill served as Project Architect for this church with Rogers Assoc.