Amazing Transformation
by Jonathan McGaha | January 1, 2013 12:00 am
Fayetteville, Ark.-based Marlon Blackwell Architect transformed an existing 3,600-square-foot metal shop building into a place of worship and fellowship for Saint Nicholas Eastern Orthodox Church in Springdale, Ark.
“This project had many difficult restrictions, from dealing with the original building to a fairly austere budget,” says Jonathan Boelkins, AIA, project manager, Marlon Blackwell Architect. “We tried to let these constraints refine the design rather than see them as a limitation.”
The architects designed a 10-foot-wide addition that was added to the west side, which faces the main road and a nearby highway, allowing them to make a new public façade that includes a tower to help identify the building as a church. “This required removing the existing western side of the original building and modifying the original structure slightly,” Boelkins describes. “On the east side, we cut a long transom window in the sanctuary that allows soft east light in during morning services.”
The building is wrapped in 5,750 square feet of T-10A Box Rib metal panels from Metal Sales Manufacturing Corp., Louisville, Ky. The church features an aluminum storefront from Norcross, Ga.-based Kawneer Co. Inc., located at the east entrance into the fellowship hall, and Vanceva colored glass by Saflex from Solutia Inc., St. Louis, offers three splashes of color: the slender red cross in the skylit tower, a yellow window on the southwest corner and a blue window on the northwest corner. Additionally, Ozark Steel, Fayetteville, supplied the church’s custom steel skylight frame, and Springdale-based Abrams Glass supplied the glazing channel.
“Facing and overcoming challenges was a continuous part of designing and building the church,” explains Boelkins. “Fortunately, we had great support from Father John [Atchison], the building committee and the contractor. We often had to resort to nontraditional means and methods such as using an old satellite dish for the dome in the sanctuary.”
St. Nicholas Eastern Orthodox Church, Springdale, Ark.
Awards: 2012 AIA National Small Projects Award; 2011 American Architecture Award; 2011 Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award
Architect: Marlon Blackwell Architect, Fayetteville, Ark.
General contractor: Don Lourie Construction, Springdale
Colored glass: Solutia Inc., St. Louis, www.saflex.com/en/vanceva.aspx
Custom steel skylight frame: Ozark Steel, Fayetteville, (479) 442-7602
Glazing channel: Abrams Glass, Springdale,
(479) 750-0042
Metal wall panels: Metal Sales Manufacturing Corp., Louisville, Ky., www.metalsales.us.com
Storefront: Kawneer Co. Inc., Norcross, Ga., www.kawneer.com
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/amazing-transformation/