Vero Beach, Florida

33 Acre Site

25,000 sf church and chapel

The Challenge

Unlike many Catholic Churches around the country, St. John-of-the Cross was growing in the early 2000's. The pastor asked for a worship space that would seat 1200 persons plus provide a day-to-day chapel that would seat 250. Support spaces for the religious purposes of the building would also be required.

The Solution

The building was conceived as a Celtic cross. The pastor, who was Irish, loved the idea and asked that the architectural design for the church follow that plan. The congregation for the main sanctuary would follow a curved seating pattern that was encouraged by the ecumenical desires of the Church at the time.

The exterior of the church building, following many of the traditions in Vero Beach, has a marked Spanish colonial reading. Arched windows and openings along with stucco exterior wall finishes and a clay tile roof express the Spanish identity.