Good Shepherd Star of the Sea Parish
Surrey, British Columbia

This Roman Catholic church incorporates social, educational and administrative facilities, as well as a separate rectory. The siting of the church allows the parking to be located mid-block to reduce the visual disturbance to the residential neighbourhood and to serve users of the adjacent school play fields. The parish elementary school is located at the opposite end of the property.

The building is set well back from the street, with extensive landscaping that mediates between the residential neighbourhood and the scale of the nave.
The church emphasizes the importance of community and procession. A series of communal gathering spaces proceed from the entry court, to the skylit “Area of Welcome” and into the nave. Along the transition from the parking lot to the sanctuary, the communal spaces become less informal and more ceremonial. The height and volume of the spaces increases until the journey culminates beneath the lantern, or “cross of light,” over the sanctuary. Parishioners gather in the nave around the altar, beneath the protective “wing” of a delicate lacy wood ceiling. These two elements - the congregation and the altar - are expressed to the surrounding community as exterior architectural forms.