Instagram and Pinterest are great testaments that everyone loves a pretty picture of an old cathedral. The millions of tourists to Italy, Germany, England, and France are witnesses to these cathedrals being much loved and still awe-inspiring in our post-modern society. But unfortunately, not all of us are fortunate enough to attend a Gothic Revival church every Sunday. Rather, we increasingly see designs with distracting lights, an undecorated sanctuary, old carpet, or bare walls.

These spaces are not inherently bad or impious, but they often lack the transcendent beauty of a traditional church interior. Their creators were likely more focused on modern architectural trends like celebrating on the materials for what they are, revealing the structure, using prefabricated forms, and cutting costs where possible. This can create a comfortable, homey space that accepts you as you are rather than lifting you to the person that God calls you to be. But churches are more than welcome centers or community gathering spaces, though they can often function as both. First and foremost, churches are where we encounter the divine and are called to look beyond ourselves and the physical world to something greater. So how can we take these spaces and transform them without changing the entire design?

We would all love a Gothic or Romanesque church, but some churches would look disharmonious with a Gothic reredos or classical columns. Following the principle that decoration is attendant upon architecture, we have to work with the architecture as it stands rather than try to force the issue.

A great example is St. Thomas More in Darien, CT. This interior bore no indication of its patron saint, or really any indication that it was a Catholic church. The exterior gave no hints at the building’s purpose other than a sign and a large cross rising from the center of the building; and the interior was all white, carpeted, and had a difficult slant downwards toward a white, modernist relief panel just above an air conditioning split. Where was one expected to look for the divine? In the AC unit? The abstract, colored glass? Or above to a narrow, chimney-like skylight above the altar?

St. Thomas More in Darien, CT during an evening mass before renovations.

Working with Doyle Coffin Architects, we found a wealth of space behind the existing AC unit and sanctuary wall, but realized the entire ceiling relied upon a single horizontal beam in the sanctuary.

When the design phase began and the floorplan had been expanded to use the full floorspace, we brainstormed various incorporations of Gothic elements. The church had recently merged with another and the client wished to include some of their furnishings to pay tribute to the old church rather than losing the beautiful furniture. But, as conversations went on and many renderings faced trial and error, we realized Gothic simply did not fit within the contemporary space. Gothic styles focus around verticality: soaring windows, tall ceilings, towering reredos, and pointed arches reminding us of praying hands. But this space was round, clamshell-shaped church had only a few areas of that exaggerated verticality.

Instead, we focused our attention on balancing traditional sensibilities with modern designs and precious materials. The floor design is classically inspired, but fits the modern aesthetics, guiding you down the center aisle, deeper into the church. The sanctuary is set apart with the marbleized arch, simulated gold mosaic wall, and blend of fine wood and marble radiating from a linden wood crucifix. The sanctuary arch and decoration are the only locations of true white in the entire space, allowing it to glow and truly appear bright while the rest of the interior is a warm tan.

The nave is painted in a series of warm beiges that bring the structure to prominence. Rather than simply repainting the interior to “brighten the space,” we used color theory to make it visually appealing, highlight the elements of beauty already there, and make the space feel larger. The ceiling beams are painted and lightly decorated which helps guide the eye to the altar and bring visual order. By alternating light and dark colors on the walls, we create a pillar effect and make the new stained-glass windows brighter by contrasting them with warm, darker tones.

When you first enter via the narthex, you are greeted by the church’s patron saint, St. Thomas More, and two other English martyrs, St. John Fisher and St. Edmund Campion. These figures are framed in a simulated niche and decorative pattern. To the left and right are shrines to Mary and Joseph with salvaged altars from a closed church, and the interior feels modern but reverent as you prepare to enter the nave and look upon the Holy Eucharist.    

Forcing a space into a style other than its own will yield a disharmonious interior. Something will always feel “off” or awkward. This feeling is distracting and we start to notice small flaws in the design or amiss details rather than the beauty of the church and the liturgy. But when we accept an interior or our limitations in changing it completely, we can still create a space that is reverent, meaningful, and rooted in tradition.   

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