Saint Joseph the Worker Day Chapel
-
ARCHITECTURAL TEAM | John Sparano, Anne Mooney, Ludwing Juarez, Nate King, Seth Striefel, Soonju Kwon, Matt Hintze
ELECTRICAL | Electrical Consulting Engineers Inc.
LANDSCAPE | Landmark Design
MECHANICAL | Colvin Engineering Associates Inc.
PLUMBING | Colvin Engineering Associates Inc.
STRUCTURAL | Structural Design Studio
PHOTOGRAPHY | Jeremy Bittermann
-
2022 | North American Copper in Architecture Award
2022 | “Eleven Building Projects Receive Copper Architecture Award”, Canadian Architect, September 2022
2022 | “10 New Doors and Entrances We Enjoyed”, by Alexander Walter, Archinect, July 2022
2020 | “Saint Joseph the Worker Day Chapel,” The Architect’s Newspaper, January 2020
2019 | “Sparano + Mooney Creates Sculptural Catholic Chapel for Utah Mining Town,” Dezeen, August 2019
2013 | "Divine Design", Design Bureau, May 2013
2013 | "St. Joseph the Worker Church", Architype Review: Religious Buildings, Vol. 6, No. 7, 2013
2013 | "DesignArts ‘13: St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church", Exhibition Catalog, September 2013
The design process for this intimately-scaled chapel for daily worship began with a research phase recognizing the rich history of the West Jordan, Utah, community this church serves. Located in the immediate vicinity is the Kennecott Copper Mine, the world’s largest open-pit mine. Working-class immigrants seeking employment settled in the area and built a small church that was originally located on this site. Sparano + Mooney Architecture designed a new church for the site, a component of which is the Day Chapel.
Linking the historical with the spiritual, Saint Joseph - a carpenter often depicted with tools in his hands - is the Day Chapel’s namesake. In an effort to celebrate this rich cultural lineage, common materials confronted in daily life such as concrete, wood, copper and glass, were incorporated into the design of the chapel. These materials were then detailed to express the skill of the craftsman. Custom-bent, flat-lock copper panels and board-formed concrete were used on the exterior of the chapel thereby incorporating tangible references to the parish’s mining and construction history.
The interior is of a single material - tongue-and-groove vertical-grain fir from wall base to roof. In keeping with the design goal of sustainability, the Day Chapel, which is more frequently used than the main sanctuary, is thermally isolated thereby reducing the daily heating and cooling loads. Natural light enters through a single aperture; because the Day Chapel is such an intimate space, we felt that a single source of illumination was appropriate and because the skylight does not afford views to more than passing clouds, it reinforces the inward-looking nature of the space. The light entering the space also highlights the custom marble and steel contemporary altar furnishings designed by Sparano + Mooney Architecture.
