First Unitarian Church of St. Louis
St. Louis
Powers Bowersox Associates

Sensitive addition creates space and privacy for existing church

© Robert Pettus

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Designed by the noted St. Louis architect William B. Ittner, the First Unitarian Church is a small, picturesque stone structure built in 1917. Later additions included an educational wing, built in 1960, and a memorial burial garden laid out adjacent to these structures. Powers Bowersox designed a new multipurpose chapel that would seat up to 100 people for small weddings, funerals, musical performances, and lectures. A basement level houses classrooms for children’s educational programs. The architects located this addition on the open side of the memorial garden, creating an inner courtyard and affording more privacy.

A transparent wall in the new chapel includes 11 doors that open directly into the garden. The room’s geometry consists of simple shapes but variety comes from its volumetric forms and the ever-changing play of light and shade throughout the day. The architects saved a stained glass window from the original church and placed it into one of the walls, creating a historical focal point. A floating ceiling creates a sense of shelter and diffuses sunlight from the clerestory windows.

The chapel’s three solid walls are comprised of Wisconsin limestone, which has the same warm gray tones of the original church as well as yellow tones that blend with the buff brick of the sixties-era education wing. The architect specified “snap” joints in lieu of sawn joints because they emulate the look of the original church’s rubble stone walls; but the new chapel’s walls are not load bearing and act as more of a decorative skin. The geometric pattern of their coursed horizontal joints coupled with the random stone lengths give life and beauty to the walls that only stone can give. Like the rubble stone walls of the original sanctuary, they are a work of art that reflects the craftsmanship of the masons who built them.

The church’s expansion and renovation also involved making improvements to the original sanctuary and education wing, such as installing an air conditioning system that would meet stringent sound transmission standards. (Previously, services were not held during the summer due to intense heat.) The chancel was extended to accommodate additional choir seating, and an elevator was installed to access the education wing.

Formal name of Project:
First Unitarian Church of St. Louis, Renovation and Chapel Addition

Location:
St. Louis

Gross square footage:
Renovation: 21,950 sq. ft.; New Construction (chapel): 4,500 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$1.87 million

Owner:
First Unitarian Church of St.Louis

Architect:
Powers Bowersox Associates, Inc.
300 N. Fourth St., STE 206
St.Louis, Missouri 63102
T-314-621-4160
F-314-621-4161

L-R: Front Row: Ben Hoffmann, John Caldwell, Amber Janssen.
Back Row: Andrew Gunn, AIA; William A. Bowersox, FAIA; Linda Daniel;
Fred Powers, AIA; Joseph Kury