First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta
A congruent mission
The urban campus of the nearly 200-year old congregation is based on establishing harmony among the mission, character, and state of the church facilities with a direct goal in offering radical hospitality, community connection, and expanding upon the historic legacy of the church.
First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta (FPCA) engaged Houser Walker to create a comprehensive master plan that aligns with the forward-thinking, comprehensive vision for the physical campus with the essential values of hospitality, tangible compassion, collaboration, relevance, community, spiritual formation, technology, tradition, and environmental stewardship. The initial phase of the master plan is currently slated for completion in 2024 and is focused on construction of a new gathering hall, contemporary worship space, and renovations of circulation and church ministry spaces.
Client
First Presbyterian Church
Location
Atlanta, GA
Status
Ongoing
Size
88,000 SF
Project Team
Hank Houser, Rick Bizot, Jiangpu Meng,
Nicholas Purcell
Collaborators
Uzon + Case, Kimley Horn, Newcomb Boyd,
Acoustica, JE Dunn, Clark AV
Awards
TBD
Tags
Religious
A new light-filled, three-story Commons, invites an orients people into the campus both vertically and horizontally. This central space is the focal point of an open, intuitive circulation system with natural places for informal gathering to connect people. The architecture is a reflection of the principles of the church, being a place that offers sanctuary and refuge while being a ‘light unto the world’ and an invitational beacon within the neighborhood. This space will facilitate multiple functions, from lectures to wedding receptions.
New campus addition and renovations are based on the premise of balancing the beauty of the existing campus with increased transparency, connectivity, air, and light. Being compatible with the existing church, but differentiated in presence is part of this goal.
The church’s goal of radical hospitality and inclusive community is centralized around the three-story Commons space, a living room for the campus that acts as the hub with connections to the historic sanctuary, modern worship space, and church ministries.
A new contemporary worship space will act as a front porch for the church towards the active Peacthree Street cityscape of Midtown Atlanta. This invitational gesture creates a place for the city and church to overlap in program. Architecturally, the scale of the new worship space, Fifield Hall, is inspired by the proportions and red sandstone materials of the historic sanctuary transepts. Where the historic church is fortified, the new is invitational.
A multi-purpose contemporary worship space will facilitate the growing congregation’s mission of providing an alternative liturgical environment with the integration of modern AV production technology for multipurpose use. The space is directly engaged with urban views and operable doors to the streetfront while incorporating acoustic and light-diffusing materials and form.
The existing campus intelligible corridors are opened up to reconcile the many areas of the church. A proposed widening of the east-west circulation, ‘town-square’ Commons, and Fifield Hall, offers invitational gestures and visibility within the building. In addition, the complex issue of equitable accessibility to the existing structure is solved with comprehensive site work improvements, clear circulation paths, and intuitive wayfinding.
Existing Circulation
Proposed Circulation