Palladio Awards 2023
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church
Right outside the college town of Stillwater, Oklahoma, surrounded by farmland, stands St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, a beacon whose tallest spire, topped by a 12-foot-tall cross, is visible for miles.
The church, designed by Franck & Lohsen Architects, is so stunning that people driving by actually stop to visit it.
“Stillwater is primarily a Protestant area, and St. Francis Xavier is clearly different from all the other churches in the area,” says Art Lohsen, a founding partner of the Washington, D.C.-based Franck & Lohsen Architects. “The parish wanted the church to be visible from downtown Stillwater and from the Oklahoma State University campus and wanted it to inspire people to learn about Catholicism. So many people have visited that the parish has enlisted a group of volunteer docents to give tours, and the church has become a key evangelistic tool, something the parish had not expected.”
St. Francis Xavier, which was built following the merger of a downtown church and a growing Catholic Student Center at Oklahoma State University, has administrative offices, an educational wing, a youth center with a gymnasium, a parish hall that seats 400, a Perpetual Adoration Chapel, and a church that can hold up to 900 parishioners.
The American Gothic-style church, which presides over a 20-acre plot of land, is clad in a custom brick blend of five colors—brown, reds, orange, tan, and black—picked up from the surrounding landscape.
“Oklahoma calls itself Red Dirt Country, and it’s the home of the Dust Bowl,” says Lohsen, whose team included principal Michael M. Franck, Will Miller, Andwele Worrell, Marlan Laurenzi, and Gracia Mitchell. “We didn’t want to go with a solid color of brick because we needed to allow for wind-blown dirt stains that happen naturally. This unique blend of colors works with the forces of nature rather than working against them.”
The brick was paired with cast-stone ornamentation that was appropriate for the architectural style.
Lohsen says that “the richness of the exterior architectural detail and decoration is rarely achieved in a new church project.”
St. Francis Xavier’s interior architecture is defined by 52-foot-high groin-vaulted ceilings accentuated with a series of delicate ribs. The ribs and columns are made of glass fiber-reinforced plaster, a cost-conscious choice that allowed the architects to create the distinctive slender profiles.
Lohsen notes that the geometry of the ceiling was so complicated that 3-D models had to be made for the subcontractor to follow during fabrication. “It took two months for us to get the model right,” he says, adding that “it was well worth the effort as the ceiling is the church’s hallmark—everyone looks up and admires it.”
The color palette—a neutral light gray for the walls, a heavenly sky-blue for the ceilings, and black and white marble for the sanctuary’s floor—forms a light, bright background for the liturgical furniture, designed by Franck & Lohsen in collaboration with the master carvers of Italy’s Ferdinand Stuflesser 1875.
A number of the key features, including a reredos with statues and angels, an altar, an ambo, Mary and Joseph shrines, shrines for six other saints, and custom frames for Stations of the Cross that contain giclées by artist Leonard Porter, were made in Italy.
“This was a five-year project from design and planning to construction,” Lohsen says. “A hallmark of its success was the long-term relationship we formed with the parish. The reward is that relationship that continues to this day.” TB
Key Suppliers
Architect
Associate Architect
Hord Architects
Liturgical Millwork
Ferdinand Stuflesser 1875
Masonry
Sun Valley Masonry
Steeple
Stations of the Cross
Leonard Porter
