Cathedral Square

The creation of Cathedral Square unites the Diocese of Grand Rapids as it brings together Administrative offices and various Catholic Services (including a church supply retail outlet, bookstore, and conference center) in one location adjacent to the Cathedral of St. Andrew and Catholic Central High School. Prior to this project, our team first performed an in-depth facility study of the Diocese’s existing campus, documenting building deficits and opportunities, enabling the client to determine that moving the Diocese Headquarters was the best solution. The resulting project renovated a 100,000 square foot, 4-story, 1920s era car dealership and its next-door neighbor, a simple, two-story metal-clad building, the dealership’s auto repair shop. The character of the original building was retained by re-cladding the unified structure with brick and cast stone. A contemporary impression comes from trading the traditional, institutional, regular window patterns with a dynamic, random composition. A tree-lined pedestrian mall and 2-level parking ramp are included in the project.