Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Hallahan Girls Catholic High School Chapel
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.s.
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.
Philadelphia, PA
Completed 2017
Catholic Girls High School Chapel
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.
Judicious use of wood details, subtle wall recesses, and vinyl donor text some together at the entry doors where holy water and hand outs are located for students and visitors.
To keep costs down and not generate waste, the existing chairs were re-upholstered in shades of the schools colors to add visual depth to the chapel. This also gave the school a identifiable method for raising and acknowledging donations to the school with a small plaque on the back of each chair.
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 school’s patron saint, and inscriptions honoring the school’s formation and patrons.
The opening and consecration of the chapel by the archbishop of the Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese.
The original space with dropped ceiling, wood wall paneling, wall to wall carpet, and glare-inducing light fixtures.
The renovation happened in two phases, beginning with the creation of a new office and welcome center off the main entry doors.
Catholic Girls High School Office and Welcome Center
The offices were previously a collection of small storage rooms and oversized private offices. The new design re-calibrated the space to reflect current administrative practices that emphasized open-ness and transparency and provided a new reception area for parents and visitors to wait.
The main wall featured a cross, to represent the Christian and Catholic Faith, and a compass, which was tied to the school’s motto.
A new timber cross was mounted on the wall of the offices using reclaimed wood from a recently demolished Catholic Convent in northern Philadelphia. A local reclaimed material and furniture vendor, Provenance Philadelphia, milled and assembled the cross for the school free of charge.
Photography by Giles Ashford Photography
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