Korean Presbyterian Church / Arcari + Iovino Architects

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Text description provided by the architects. The Parish’s objective for their new spiritual home was to create a destination that was more than a Sunday worship space.  A community center setting where parishioners could spend their day in fellowship through worship, religious study, recreation, art appreciation, music and dining. The Church acquired a 24-acre site in northern New Jersey that had the base structures and open areas to establish a strong community campus.  Existing outdoor recreation and reflection areas together with a former religious facility set the scene for the new building.

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The sanctuary of the new 32,800 square foot facility accommodates 380 worshipers and is acoustically designed to accommodate music recitals and performances as well as its traditional function.  Across a service zone, a multipurpose space gathers the parishioners before and after services.  This two-story space has a mezzanine art gallery featuring works by parishioners. Comfortable seating areas receive natural light from a large skylight above. The lower level contains children’s chapels for three different age groups, which are occupied when the adults are in mass. 

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The recreation space also includes an indoor basketball court and a kitchen facility. The monolithic vertical fins of the sanctuary have three primary functions; they allow diffused light in and out of the space through floor-to-ceiling slots of patterned glass; they reinforce the acoustic quality of performances along with the ceiling system; and lastly they are sculptural elements in the landscape. The vertical expression of the stair, which serves as a beacon much like a classic bell tower, gives way to the horizontal lines of the main entrance façade.  The façade incorporates a warm palate of materials utilizing bands of red brick, wood doors, and vision glass at a pedestrian scale welcoming to parishioners.

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