Design for New Parish Building at 74 Trinity Place Announced

The building will include 26 floors totaling 310,000 square feet. The base, comprising the first nine floors and approximately 150,000 square feet, will contain gathering spaces, an education center, a gymnasium, gallery and performance areas, family and youth spaces, and staff offices. Above the base will be a 160,000 square foot commercial office tower.
 
“This is a building that has been tailored to its circumstances,” said Fred Clarke of Pelli Clarke Pelli, the architectural firm responsible for the design, as he showed the first images of the exterior of the building.

The most important relationship this new building has is with Trinity Church, which is made of warm sandstone with bronze detailing. “That golden, luminous quality is part of what we’re keying into,” he said. One important difference is “Trinity Church is an inward looking piece of architecture. The new parish center needs to be an outward-looking piece of architecture.” 

The new building will be more than outward looking. Neighbors and passersby will be able to see through the glass façades to the next block, as well as all the activities inside. This literal transparency, as well as the flexibility of the interior space, is one result of the charette process, begun almost two years ago, in which parishioners and neighbors shared their desires for the new space.
 
At the charettes, which began in February 2015, members of the community suggested uses for the new space; learned about community demographics and the results of a community needs survey, and how the new building may serve the community’s needs; and were shown the vision parameters—how factors including the footprint of the building, square footage, and budget would affect the interior design.
 
“We’ve listened to, we’ve approached, over 10,000 people,” Dr. Lupfer said. “It’s been a real joy to do that.”