By the time leaders at St. Clare of Assisi Roman Catholic Church in Surprise, Arizona, contacted church architect Bill Brown about their building needs, they were getting a bit desperate. The fast-growing church was quickly outgrowing its 400-seat temporary location, and it couldn’t find an architectural firm that would really listen to its needs.  Already, church leaders had hired and released two architectural firms.
  
“When I came in, some people were skeptical,” noted Brown, AIA NCARB ACLS, president of Bill Brown AIA Professional Corporation. “I had to prove to them that I would really listen and respond to what they had to say.”
  
Brown’s first task was holding a church-wide meeting, where he asked everyone to write down on index cards what they thought he should know about the church and the facility to be designed. Going back to his office in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Brown sifted through more than 600 responses.
  
One theme stood out immediately. Overwhelmingly, the people wanted the new church designed in the Spanish mission style, which fit in well with its Phoenix-area location.  Despite this obvious desire, at least one of the former architectural firms had designed a very contemporary building. 
  
“Green,” or environmentally friendly, design was important to parishioners as well. And, since the church wanted to build out three or four more phases—including a possible elementary school in the future—it was important that each area be carefully designed to fit onto the 13-acre site.
   
Planning for future growth also was a necessity, since Surprise, Arizona, is growing so quickly. The city’s population increased from about 36,000 in 2002 to nearly 100,000 in 2006. While only desert once surrounded the church, hundreds of new homes now dot the nearby landscape.
  
Brown took all these issues into consideration. Immediately, he went to work researching the Spanish mission style to come up with authentic design elements, from the structure of the facility down to the details, including the doorknobs. Each month, Brown visited the church, speaking at all five weekend Masses and asking for input from parishioners about the rough drafts he was creating. Then, he would travel back to his office, going through each and every one of the hundreds of responses, noting common themes, likes and dislikes.
  
After five months, a final design was presented to the church in a manner similar to a gallery opening. Detailed drawings were unveiled, and a 3-D computer-generated animation guided parishioners through the facility as it would look when completed.
  
“Everyone stood up, clapping and cheering,” Brown said. “It was a real success.”
  
To some, it might seem like a tedious process to take each detail to the congregation as a whole—rather than just a designated building committee—but Brown believes it is important, if churches want membership buy-in.
  
“People will be asked to contribute money, and they expect to be involved,” he said.
  
While all churches rely on donations from members for any building project, it is especially important in cases like St. Clare of Assisi, where regulations only allow the church to finance a small amount of the project—in this case, 20 percent.
  
As a cost-saving measure for the future, the shell of the worship center was created to hold 1,600 seats, though only 800 will be used initially. Even fewer pews and finishes will be completed at first, but will instead be added incrementally. In the meantime, chairs from the temporary construction site will be used to fill in.
    
The worship space also will include an area for an 80-member choir and a pipe organ, which the church hopes to purchase in the future. Carefully designed acoustics will deliver excellent sound quality throughout the facility.
  
The building itself will be constructed of 2 x 6 steel studs and exterior walls of Rastra, an insulated, energy-efficient concrete form system. Stucco and plaster can be applied to this material without furring strips. The thick walls will be typical of traditional Spanish mission-style architecture, including the deep reveals on doors and windows. A clay tile roof will top the building’s exterior. Tile, marble and slab-stained concrete will be used on the floors throughout the building. The church will continue to use buildings temporarily constructed on the property to house offices and classrooms until the next phase is completed.
 
The experience working with St. Clare of Assisi affirmed to Brown once again the importance of listening to clients about what they need.
  
“I think we must listen in humility,” he said.  “My job is to be a servant. In a sense, my job is to wash feet—to provide the best possible building at the least possible cost.”
 
It is important for churches to be upfront not only about their needs, but also the budget available. That way, architects can design within the budget, and there will be no surprises at the end.
 
Brown, who works with churches across the country, often retains a local architectural firm for the project—at no additional cost to the client—just as he did on this project.

The local firm acts as a liaison with local government agencies, as well as others who will be involved in the project, like engineers and contractors in the area.
  
For 20 years, Bill Brown AIA Professional Corporation in Colorado Springs, Colorado, www.billbrownaia.com, has been providing architectural, master planning, design and historical preservation consultation to church clients across the country. 

In a Nutshell
Church: St. Clare of Assisi Roman Catholic Church

Affiliation: Roman Catholic

Location: Surprise, Arizona

Membership: 2,300 households registered in parish, including about 6,000 people

Project: Build a new worship facility for this existing church in a fast-growing community in the northwest Phoenix Valley area of Arizona. First phase is a worship facility where five weekend Masses will be held. 

Size: 25,000 square feet for first phase

Cost: Approximately $6 million

Challenge: Listen to the needs and design a facility pleasing to this church, which had previously hired and released two architectural firms

Solution: Architect Bill Brown held a church-wide meeting where parishioners wrote down the needs and desires they had for the church. During five monthly church visits, Brown spoke at all services, presented ideas and invited responses. In the end, his firm was able to create a plan that met the church’s needs.