Creating spaces that have meaning is a fundamental goal of architecture. When a space comes with meaning as a programmatic mandate, the design should have the confidence to be intrinsic to the mission without unnecessarily shaping it. 

John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School is the oldest girls’ Catholic high school in the United States. Seeking to reflect the more modern Catholic educational method, the school has undertaken the selective renovation of key gathering spaces throughout the building in Center City Philadelphia. This gives the students pride as well as welcomes new visitors and potential supporters of the School.

The Chapel had been previously created in the 1980’s by uniting two classrooms, lining the walls in dark wood paneling, dropping an acoustic ceiling, and covering the old maple floors in wall to wall carpet. During the site visits, Studio Modh discovered that the existing structural slab above the dropped ceiling was in very good condition and that the ceiling was obscuring the upper third of the set of stained glass panels installed in the original renovation.

The new design strips away the ceiling to add four feet of vertical height to the space, revealing the full height and color of the stained glass panels. The chapel layout has also been rotated to place the altar and tabernacle along the wall of windows to follow a more logical procession off of the main corridor whereby visitors enter at the back of the chapel rather than the side.

The removal of the carpet uncovered a perfectly preserved maple floor, which was sanded and left with a water-clear finish to highlight the wood’s natural color. By eliminating the acoustic absorptive surfaces in the space, typically seen as a negative acoustically, the space now possesses a more solemn quality – echoing, literally and figuratively, the Catholic Cathedral situated across the street from the school.

With an extremely limited budget, every move was carefully choreographed and maximized to reinforce the sacred nature of the space. Existing chairs were re-used but re-upholstered in shades of the school’s colors (blue). Recesses in simple sheet rock walls house artifacts of the school including the Stations of the Cross, a painting of the Schools patron saint, and inscriptions honoring the school’s formation and patrons.

Philadelphia, PA

Completed 2017