Reuse of spaces aided by good design

Architects are too often treated in the popular press as artists who build spectacular new buildings intended to amaze you.

Their designs make for dramatic photography and get the most attention.

But in the real world sometimes the most satisfying results occur when architects put their hand to existing buildings, inventively enhancing the beauty and utility of what is already here.

That has been demonstrated amply this year as seen in the roster of awards given last week by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Of 15 major awards, nine were for top-quality additions or renovations.

A stand-out in the awards and one with lessons that any building committee at any church or school can find relevant was the wholesale re-imagining of a Catholic church and its long-closed adjacent school building in Carnegie by Lami Grubb Architects.

Carnegie is one of many towns in Western Pennsylvania where Catholic schools have closed and parishes have been consolidated over the years. And St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish today is made up of what were once a half dozen parishes that served the borough.

To accommodate the expanded needs for the one remaining church building, the architects situated a large and brightly lit new narthex/entranceway (topped with a pyramidal skylight) between what was originally the back of the 1880s church and its school building.

Then, they quite literally turned the church around on the inside. Where the altar once stood became a broad new glass entranceway, accessed from the new narthex. And what was once the main entrance and front facade of the church became the back wall behind a new very modern altar.

The church sits on a corner, making this switch both possible and appealing.

They needed to make only minimal changes to blend the exteriors of the two buildings with the modern addition between them, and only a few changes inside the school building to convert it to offices and meeting rooms.

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Reuse of spaces aided by good design