Page 9 - Bernardon Faith-Based Statement of Qualifications

Hovering above the main entrance to the new campus, the
Sanctuary is located on the third floor at the crossroads of ac-
tivity between the renovated five-story, 55,000 SF heavy timber
and masonry historic warehouse building and a three-story,
48,000 SF, three-story addition.

An array of stained glass windows announces the Sanctuary as
one approaches from any direction. Bernardon collaborated
with Sister Helen David Brancato, I.H.M., who created a compo-
sition of vibrant colors of overlapping glass, separate and uni-
fied, which reflect and celebrate our diversity and the beauty of
God’s creation.
Students are welcomed under a portal framed by reclaimed
wood from the warehouse, which is employed throughout the
design, to a small transition space, intended to invite quiet and
centeredness, before pivoting into the Sanctuary around a glass
font of water, suggesting healing, cleansing, and new life.

The arched ceiling sweeps forward and beckons one toward a
high glass wall overlooking the street life of Allegheny Avenue, All are welcomed in the Sanctuary.
the Philadelphia skyline and the firmament above. Here is a
contemplative place for meditation, adoration, and community
worship.

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