James Dayton Design Ltd.’s design for an addition to Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis uses some of the same building materials as the original building, but in contemporary forms. The materials, which include copper and aluminum, connect the old and new architecture, and express the addition with a modern design.
The guiding principles of the project included creating a design that is welcoming, inspiring, contemporary and sympathetic to the existing church building, and enhancing the church’s ministries.
The historic church building has lead-coated copper roof parapet caps, finials and other ornamental metalwork. The redeveloped building is clad in limestone, plaster and lead-coated copper.
MG McGrath Inc. fabricated and installed lead-coated copper panels, anodized aluminum panels and painted aluminum panels on the two-story, 41,000-square-foot addition. SPS Metals, a division of SPS Cos. Inc., supplied 20,000 square feet of lead-coated copper that was used for a cylindrical form at the front of the building and on all of the wing walls. Crystal Finishing Systems Inc. supplied 12,696 feet of various aluminum tube shapes, which were installed on the wing walls.
MG McGrath fabricated 2,000 square feet of Petersen Aluminum Corp.’s 0.04-inch aluminum sheet in Bone White into the same size panels as the lead-coated copper panels, and installed them at multiple locations at ground level. For trims, MG McGrath fabricated and installed 560 square feet of Firestone Building Products Co. Inc.’s 24-gauge steel.
To make space for the addition in the high-traffic Nicollet Mall retail district, a nine-story building also owned by the church was demolished. The addition houses worship and gathering spaces, a multipurpose room, classrooms, youth spaces, offices and community partnership space. The project was completed in December 2017.
