Saint Joan of Arc Welcome Center

The 4,000-square-foot Welcome Center provides a dedicated area for fellowship, as well as a multi-purpose space for meetings, dinners, concerts and overflow seating for the gymnasium. In addition to the Welcome Center space, we made several other improvements to the building and property. The church lacked storage space, so a storage area was built below the Welcome Center. Exterior improvements were also made, including updated outdoor lighting, a new parking lot, a paved plaza at the building entrance and new landscaping.

Design-Build Expertise Addresses Building Challenges

The Welcome Center abuts the existing building on three sides with each side representing three stand-alone building additions that happened between 1950 and the late 1990s. This created several design challenges that were creatively resolved.

The existing building had four different roof levels, so our team designed a unique new copper patina-style pyramid roof that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. A storm water ponding issue that troubled the church for many years was also mitigated. And during construction, due to the age and design of the building, an earth retention wall was required to excavate the basement and support the existing building throughout the process.

For the building enclosure, we integrated brick, glass and patina-colored architectural metal to closely match adjacent existing building finishes. On the interior, the brick walls that were formerly exterior building walls were incorporated into the design, and we created an exposed timber structure to complement the existing Douglas Fir timber in the attached gymnasium.