Church of St. Mary of the Angels
The Church of St Mary of the Angels was designed for the Franciscan Friars and their parish church. The project includes the Church, the St Anthony Friary, the Poor Clare Monastery and an extensive columbarium. The focus of the design is community and expressing the church as an open and transparent institution.
The design is centred on an outdoor space that forms a forecourt to the various institutions, enabling community bonds to develop in this civic space. WOHA designed every element of the architecture, interiors, landscape and lighting for the complex, and incorporated several existing modernist buildings from the 1950s. The design took its direction from the particular focus of the Franciscan Friars on outreach and nature, to create a space for worship that is open and outward-looking – first to the garden and surroundings, and then to the wider community.