Saint Michael Lutheran Church and School hired Gora/McGahey Architects to master plan their site to accommodate new buildings, additional parking, divide the vehicular traffic into safer, more efficient loop systems and finally create a sense of campus and harmony on the site.
The multi-phased project included three new buildings: a multi-purpose building, a day care center and an administration building. Phase I concentrated on unifying the campus, constructing the sports fields, renovating the arts and sciences rooms in the existing school, and construction of a new 21,000 square foot multi-purpose building.
The multi-purpose building was designed to accommodate a wide range of programs all cloistered to use the large gym as required. The high school sized gymnasium is surrounded by large music and band rooms, a kitchen and cafeteria, a dance room, locker rooms, a raised stage, multiple storage rooms and offices for their youth programs. The cost effective metal building was clad in durable stuccoed masonry with emphasis on colorful detailing and brick details to match existing buildings. Playful medallions also grace the exterior. The interior of the building features a stage, a floating wooden gym and dance floor, and acoustical treatment in the music rooms, providing sound separations between rooms and appropriate sound quality for rehearsals. Two lobbies were designed for display of both school and church achievements. New walkways were built to connect the school and church via the multi-purpose building. The walkways, which cross the two driveways, become gateway features that herald all that enter into the core of the new Saint Michael campus.
