The chapel and communal living room on the first floor were converted into meeting rooms. On the second floor, walls were removed that divided the nun’s confined 8-by-10 living quarters into more spacious offices.

A NEW PARISH HOME
Despite the confined site and intricate historical detail, Site Development delivered the project on time and within budget. Weekly meetings every Friday morning with the contractor, the parish and the architect ensured effective project coordination and produced the intended results. “A successful project requires a good general contractor and subcontractors, a good set of plans and an owner who makes timely decisions,” said Wilkie. The project followed this blueprint for success, ensuring on time and on budget delivery. Coordination and the conscientious work of the subcontracting team guaranteed the project’s success. “Although the project was difficult, everybody pulled their own weight,” said Meade.

With project closeout in June 2001, the parish now has a new campus that will serve the needs of school children and the Catholic Downriver community in Trenton. Today, this parish of 1,300 families has room to spread their wings as a congregation and as a community, carrying on a tradition of worship and study in a parish that is older than many historical parishes in Detroit. “Everyone was in awe of the place,” said Bainbridge. “It came out even better than anyone could have dreamed.”

Each generation has left its mark on the parish, first in past decades as donors of stained glass and now in the form of engraved brick pavers placed in front of the school as a fundraising effort. This generation has expanded the church into a true campus - a legacy for future families and individuals who will walk the corridors of St. Joseph Elementary and worship at the altar of this expanded sanctuary.

“When you look at what we accomplished with the area that we had to work with, it’s a real feather in the cap of Yops & Wilkie and Site Development,” said Bainbridge. “I would recommend them to anyone, and in fact I have.” The skill and patience of the contracting team and the sensitivity and vision of the architectural firm have produced a quality campus befitting the gracious presence of this old stone church. •

anything else in the vicinity and not upsetting the other people living in the room.”

GOING WITH THE FLOW
Working in a confined site was taxing and problematic, but the end result was a cohesive, easily accessible campus with a clearly defined flow between the five structures.

Yops & Wilkie created an efficient circulation route between the diverse structures, employing a combination of ramps, stairs and elevators both for handicapped access and to ease the transition between the buildings’ different elevations.
The original church entry is perched a half level above grade, blocking handicapped access. The church addition’s new south entrance is built at grade, allowing handicapped access to the church via an elevator in the gathering space that brings one up to the main church level or, if necessary, down to the church basement. A stairway leads the able-bodied to the main church level. The new church entry is directly opposite the new grade-level entry of the school addition, permitting an easy flow from church to the cafeteria or parish activity center.

Likewise, students can follow a clear path to the church’s new doorstep by walking through the existing school, down the ramp into the perimeter corridor, and then exiting the school and entering the

church through the two grade-level entries
A variation in slope between the existing and the school addition required insertion of the ramp linking the two structures. “The site is on a pitch, so to be at grade and be at the correct level to match the church’s grade-level entry, we had to make the addition’s floor level lower, as well,” said Zanley.

A covered breezeway with a clay tile roof links the church and school entries and shields parishioners from the elements. “Altogether, the covered breezeway, the grade-level entries, and the siting of the cafeteria close to the entries provides easy access for church events,” said Zanley. “In turn, kids can easily enter the church from the school.” Evening events in the gymnasium can also be accessed from the school addition’s main grade-level entry.

Only one structure is not contiguous to the rest of the campus. The former convent - now serving as parish offices - is located directly across the street from the main campus. In reconfiguring the interior into parish offices, Yops & Wilkie had to retain a somewhat awkwardly placed bearing wall that spans the length of the former convent and penetrates the basement and both floors of the two-story structure. “We were limited quite a bit by the existing building and code issues,” said Zanley. To change a convent into an office building, elevators were installed and open stairways were enclosed to meet code.