Church of the Covenant and Hallinan Center

Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Year: 1969

25 Year Award - AIA Ohio

The Church of the Covenant addition and its plaza was to be integrated with an exisitng design for a sunken plaza. The program was to provide additional educational space for a 1909 parish hall designed by Ralph Cramm. Recognizing the quality of the Gothic design, the challenge was to ceate a comparable new addition which would provide classrooms to sustain an expanding religious program.

The Hallinan Center was the final addition to the plaza complex. The design solution was to ensure the center enhanced the plaza and complemented the geometrical layout of the existing buildings,as well as respecting pedestrian paths meandering through this urban space. The program required the construction of two flexible areas, one for worship and recreational activities and the other to serve as a lounge and counseling area. Sufficient transparency was designed into the building to make the interior and exterior spaces feel as one continuous space