OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL CHURCH

A renewed "orientation toward the sacred" was at the heart of Father John David Ramsey's vision for renovations at his Newport News, Virginia parish. Sited just off of a heavily trafficked section of Warwick Boulevard, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church undertook an ambitions $1.2 million renovation. Work included the design and installation of a 650 lb. sanctuary cross as well as new lighting, a new café, an enhanced nursery, expanded and renovated restrooms, lobby improvements, and an exterior envelope renovation. In addition, a major focus of the renovation was the new, expanded chapel. The chapel provides a place for staff and parishioners to retreat for private prayer and reflection. The completed renovation enhances not just how the building works, but how it orients its occupants toward the essential mission of the parish.

Father John David deeply desired for the chapel to be a "place of a different spirit." The design team responded with a meticulously and thoughtfully executed vision that created a more intimate, suitable, embracing, and serene place for prayer that reinforces the traditions and customs of the church.

The project designers worked closely with a woodworker craftsman in the design of the chapel altar. An open dialogue allowed for enhancements to the design, including details such as the hand hammered cross detail on the front of the altar table and the connection of the crucifix to the altar.

While the larger renovation accomplishes notable improvements to the nursery, lobby, restroom, and kitchen spaces that support parish life, it is the renovation and expansion of the chapel that most significantly addressed the client's goal of emphasizing the "holy site."

A passionate advocate of the design, Father John David describes the resulting transformation as, "an experience of heaven... eternal."