An Adaptive Re-Use for All Souls Church

Charged with adapting the interior in a way that blends the ancient and contemporary, encourages artistic expression, and provides solace within the city, the architecture firm sought a museum-like architecture that can change personality with the liturgical calendar, while expressing the church’s core philosophies. This idea of a blank-slate architecture became the parti. Challenges for the design team included attenuating the road noise and vibrations from Interstate 40, dovetailing the desire for concurrent multi-use and sacred spaces, and weaving together the automotive symbolism present in the existing building, previously East Tennessee Auto Club, with the new ecclesiastical use. A floating gypsum board ceiling assembly, vestibules, double windows, and existing mass walls absorb deep vibrations from tractor trailers, while insulation layers and air spaces attenuate the higher frequency sounds from the auto-oriented environment. The multi-purpose Sanctuary features mobile seating, display panels, and a Eucharist table. Care in craft, form, and materiality increases like a gradient as one navigates from the Sanctuary entry point to the Eucharist table. Existing horizontal forms and proportions are appropriated from the “motor-logical” to the theological, suggesting movement through a spiritual journey. These horizontal forms and proportions are balanced by introduced vertical forms and proportions, acknowledging the divine. This project was emerging professional led.

Framework for Design Excellence