THE CHURCH ARCHITECTURE.

The architects of this special church were Hegarty Masterson Doherty Architects, 12 Clarendon Street, Derry, BT 48 7ET - below is a small list of their thoughts and restrictions when actually designing the church.

The design of the new church in Ballymagroarty has been dictated by the following:-
1. The site, which is long, narrow, sloping and exposed on all four sides.

2. Our client’s requirements, for a church to seat 650 people; a parochial house for three priests and a housekeeper; and sacristies, committee rooms etc.

3. The housing and commercial developments newly built around the church site.

The scheme that finally evolved consists of two squares, connected by a short link corridor. The larger square is the church; the smaller contains the parochial house, sacristies, committee rooms, parochial offices etc.

Each building is clad in facing bricks, with pitched and slated roofs. The roof over the church rises to a highest point over the sanctuary and is finished with a glass reinforced plastic fleche. The roof over the parochial house rises to a central roof-light over a central staircase.

The church is steel-framed, brick piers have been formed around the steel columns on the perimeter of the building. Between these piers are located fourteen windows; each of which has as its centre-piece a stained glass Station of the Cross by Desmond Kyne. The inside walls of the church are in facing brick; the floor is carpeted and the ceiling is finished in redwood.

The parochial house is two-storeyed. The accommodation for each priest is a flat consisting of a living-room, bedroom and bathroom.

Car parking has been provided around the church with the remainder of the site being landscaped and planted. To increase car parking, a connection has been made between the church site and the adjoining supermarket site.

Hegarty Masterson Doherty Architects
12 Clarendon Street, Derry, BT 48 7ET