St. Faustina Catholic Church

The Diocese of Orlando engaged PRA to construct a new church for the St. Faustina Parish. The Parish, which faced a growing number of parishioners in a site with no room to grow, had been raising funds since 2006 in order to build the new facility. After securing a large enough site for the church and future expansions, PRA began design services.

PRA researched churches in St. Maria Faustina’s home country of Poland for inspiration and historical reference. One goal of the design was to evoke the essence of the St. Mary’s Basilica in Kraków. This was achieved by the use of a deep red color on the exterior of the building. Large gothic arches on the prominent ends of the building contribute to the Polish Gothic inspiration. A Divine Mercy Chapel houses a reliquary where relics from Poland related to St. Faustina are housed. Interior finishes were chosen to evoke the traditions of Poland in a modern, contemporary church.

One of the challenges of the project was working with a fixed budget on a tight urban site. The building is a pure rectangular, pre-engineered metal building with seating to accommodate up to 500 people. The building was also designed with future expansion in mind, with additional room for another large worship space on the campus. The design team took a simple building form and expressed it through color and material composition to create a catholic church that is beloved by the community.