Bishop to Dedicate New Education Center at St. Rose of Lima in Chula Vista Aug. 28

Aug. 25, 2010 - PRLog -- Bishop Robert Brom of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego is scheduled to perform a formal blessing and dedication of the new education center building at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Chula Vista on Saturday, Aug. 28. The two-story, mission style building was designed by San Diego-based domusstudio architecture and constructed by Erickson-Hall Construction Co.

The Bishop’s 6 p.m. blessing will follow the 5 p.m. Saturday vigil Mass at St. Rose of Lima, located at H Street and Third Avenue in Chula Vista’s Third Avenue Village. Tours will be given during the day on Sunday, Aug. 29, when the parish also plans a dinner for parishioners in the courtyard of the new building to celebrate the annual Feast Day of Saint Rose of Lima.

Completed in time for school to start Sept. 7, the nearly 24,000-square-foot De Flores Center is one of the first phases in the church’s master plan. The education building will house school and religious education programs and is designed to be an efficient response to the parameters of the property, parish requirements and the urban location.

“The Education Center has been an amazing project,” said David Pfeifer, AIA, principal at domusstudio architecture, a 24-year-old San Diego firm specializing in liturgical and religious structures in Southern California. St. Rose of Lima is among its 40 or so active church clients.

“It’s incredible how much building we could fit onto the tight footprint of this site,” Pfeifer continued. “By pushing the building to the perimeter of the property, we have created a more efficient use of space for a very popular church.  We have created safe, quiet places for gathering that were severely lacking on the campus before the project had begun.”

Jim Fisher, Construction Manager for Erickson-Hall, said: “Construction of a building within three inches of the lot lines at a busy downtown location with equally busy school and Parish activity has been a challenge. The whole construction team has worked very hard to make it all come together, and the City of Chula Vista has been a very helpful partner in the process.”

Located on fewer than four acres in the heart of downtown Chula Vista, St. Rose of Lima has nearly 6,000 registered parish families, one of the largest parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego. The new education center building has 10 classrooms, two additional preschool classrooms, an enlarged science classroom, computer classroom, and library. Teacher support areas are located adjacent to each classroom for ease of resource material preparation.
According to Deacon Greg Smyth, the construction coordinator for the parish: “After many years of planning, we are very pleased with the final product.  Our new education center could never have been built without the team effort that was forged by Erickson-Hall, domusstudio, and our parish leadership.  This team approach spilled over to the many subcontractors working on the job and resulted in a first-class outcome.  In particular, Bruce Swanson of Erickson-Hall and David Pfeifer of domusstudio were key players in making it all come together.”

The building accommodates kindergarten through eighth-grade parish school functions as well as continuing parish religious education programs for all age groups including adults.

“It was very important to the church that we design the education center not just for schoolchildren, but also for ongoing religious education,” Pfeifer said.

To more efficiently serve a dual purpose, Pfeifer designed custom cabinetry in each of the classrooms. Through the collaborate teamwork of domusstudio, Erickson-Hall, Troxell and Mission Valley Cabinets, the result was custom casework “teaching walls.” The teaching walls include fully electronic Starboards with built in projectors as well as sliding white boards with ample storage behind to provide a unique and functional teaching environment.  These innovative “teaching walls” are an example of the approach domusstudio architecture brings to its clients.

“We listened to what the leadership of St. Rose said they wanted – an efficient use of space for church and school, resource rooms for teachers, the newest technologies in education – and we created and built a building to meet those needs.” Pfeifer said.

The building reveals additional architectural innovations as well. For example, all the ground-floor windows of the school are placed higher than standard, so that students and teachers have the benefit of daylight but are not visible to passers-by on the street. The building itself is two to five feet higher than the sidewalk for additional privacy.

With the walls of the education center as few as three inches from the sidewalk, domusstudio architecture’s Pfeifer said privacy and noise control were primary concerns.

“We designed an attractive street edge, according to the City of Chula Vista’s downtown urban design guidelines, and we also made sure the school building was safe, secure and private,” Pfeifer explained. “The walls are insulated, with sound deadening and resilient channels, and all the street-level windows are tinted, laminated and dual-glazed.”

The education center is the first of three phases in St. Rose of Lima’s master plan. Located at the northwest corner of the property, the building’s large entry courtyard eventually will also provide access to a new two-story parish hall. The final phase at St. Rose of Lima will bring a new 1,500-seat church building.

“The vision of the master plan is to create a vital, service-oriented church campus in a downtown environment,” said Pfeifer. “And every step of the way will be implemented without interfering with any existing church or school function.”

In addition to the architecture and planning services by domusstudio architecture, Erickson-Hall Construction Co. provided design assistance and construction services. The Escondido-based company’s safety record and extensive experience with school projects was critical to the challenge of building in the midst of ongoing church and school activity.

Martin & Libby Structural Engineers, T*Squared Mechanical, Electrical Engineers, Rick Engineering and DPA Landscape Architects also contributed services to the project. St. Rose parishioners provided discounted materials and services for the project’s structural steel, stone veneer, masonry, pavers and stucco.

Founded in 1986 as Dominy + Associates Architects, domusstudio architecture strives to enhance the lives of people through architecture, interiors, planning and service. The 24-year-old award-winning architectural design firm specializing in religious facilities, fire stations, educational buildings, senior housing and custom residential projects. For more information about its projects and services, call 619-692-9393 or visit http://www.domusstudio.com.

Erickson-Hall Construction Co. committed to building safe and healthy communities since 1998 specializes in religious facilities, educational buildings and fire stations, For more information about its projects and services, call 760-796-7700 or visit http://www.ericksonhall.com.

# # #

Scribe Communications is a full-service public relations firm headquartered in San Diego's prestigious La Jolla Golden Triangle business hub.