St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Bridgeport, PA

Renovations

Master Plan for Christ the King Presbyterian Church, Houston, Texas.

In October our design team began work on a master plan for the continued development of the campus of Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas located on approximately 7 acres on Silber Road in Houston.

The team completed the first design visit and attended a service in November 2024 and are meeting with the church building committee.  The master plan design will provide for growth space and resolve existing needs throughout the facility.

This project for Christ the King Presbyterian Church continues our 114 year relationship with Houston beginning in 1911 with the design of what is now Lovett Hall, the first building for Rice University. The relationship was augmented with the opening of a branch office headed by a Cram and Ferguson, Boston employee, William Ward Watkin. Watkin moved to Houston to manage the firm’s projects at Rice and stayed to become the first Head of the new Department of Architecture at Rice.

Watkin worked on several major projects as Ralph Adams Cram’s executive architect for the Julia Ideson Building, the first building of the Houston Public Library, the iconic Trinity Episcopal Church and the ground-breaking first Spanish Revival Sewall House in River Oaks Section of Houston.

In more recent times we designed the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Walsingham in the Spring Branch section of Houston in 1998-2000. We have fond memories of working with Father James Moore, Deacon Jim Barnett, Ms Kay Laro and the Building Committee, designing and building their iconic sanctuary building which has become a Houston Landmark.

Chancel Renovations for St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Charlotte, North Carolina.

 In August the Cram and Ferguson Architects design team began work on the Schematic Design for the renovation of the Sanctuary at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Charlotte. Ethan and Matthew visited in late August and interviewed the church leadership and met with the Building Committee to ascertain the pros and cons of the current design. Over the next three months a new design for the chancel will be developed that solves existing problems and brings the Chancel design more in line with current liturgical needs.

 St. Peters was first built in 1857 and rebuilt in 1890 and added to multiple times over the years since then. The architect was William Brocklesby of Hartford, Connecticut. Brocklesby, following his graduation in 1869 from Trinity College in Hartford, apprenticed in the office of Richard Upjohn designer of Trinity Wall Street in New York City.

 St. Peter’s houses some extraordinary leaded glass including a Tiffany and a set of four Meyer of Munich style windows of very high quality. The beautiful nave is finished in dark wood decorated with quatrefoils and other symbols of religious significance. Among other goals, the renovations will provide wheelchair access to the Chancel which is currently not accessible, improve the lighting of the Chancel area and reorganize the space to additional seating and improved circulation in the Chancel.

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