Background

Selecting an architect for the construction of a church, parish hall, school, or other parochial building presumes that there has been previous communication between the pastor, parishioners and the Bishop.

Under the leadership of the pastor, the parish council, and/or building committee, along with all the parishioners, will have assembled a program of needs. This occurs after the parish completes a thorough study of the total parish complex. Pastor and parish should not dictate the architectural expression. The parish community contributes well founded ideas to those areas which affect their ability to function as a community and carry out the parish mission. It will be the architect who studies this program of needs and, interprets the directives of the program into an appropriate architectural expression. This architectural expression must strive to satisfy not only the present generation but also future generations who will assemble for prayer, social, and educational activities of the parish community. However, they should make certain that their program of needs and the resulting architectural designs truly are able to the parish to carry out the parish mission.

It is most important to select an architect who is capable of assimilating current theological and liturgical principles. These principles must be expressed when planning a new church building or renovating an existing church building. The architect should be of outstanding competence in the creative skills of his/her field. He/she should also be familiar with the liturgy. He/she must possess an understanding of Catholic worship.

While it may very well prove helpful if the architect were Catholic, this may not insure that he/she is knowledgeable of the current state of the church's liturgy. The architect selected must be willing to become familiar with Catholic liturgy if a church is being designed. The pastor and the Diocesan Director of Worship should provide theological and liturgical guidance to the architect. Under most circumstances, it is advisable to hire a liturgical consultant to work with the parish.

Once the program of needs has been defined for the proposed construction, the pastor and his council and/or building committee can begin to pre-select those architectural firms who they feel worthy of interview as a result of their past work performances for the parish or other parishes. Once pre-selected, then they can be invited by letter for an interview at a selected date and hour. Include a copy of your program of needs with your letter so that each prospective firm may study them before the scheduled interview date. Also include a copy of the Owner/Architect addendum the Diocese uses. This allows the architect to come to the interview with the ability to talk more professionally and intelligently about your particular building design program.

Request that each firm send a company resume at least one week ahead of the interview date. This will allow the pastor and prospective interviewers to become acquainted with each firm who elects to accept your invitation. Advise each firm that this resume should include answers to the following questions.

5. Identify the business, services available, number of principals and employees, and how long the business has been active.
6. Identify the number of projects they now have under contract and are working on at this time. Identify each of these projects as to the type of building, owner, location, and estimated construction cost.
7. Identify the number of church and/or church buildings they have completed over the past 15 years, owner, location, and final construction cost.
8. Identify, if they wish, any other buildings they have completed over the past 15 years, owner, location, and final construction cost.
9. Identify a particular individual's name, address, and telephone number that you may contact on each completed project submitted int their resume.

The pastor should indicate in his letter to each firm that the architect is welcome to phone or meet with him or the chairperson of the building committee at any time before the interview date to clarify additional information needed.

The pastor and interview committee should review and compare all resumes submitted. In addition, contact people who may know these architects and can give insight on the firm's ability and creative skills and can execute both a functional and aesthetic design.

One of the best questions to ask a former client of an architect is:

By the day of the interview information should have been collected on each firm as well as opinions from others who know them and/or have employed the architect in recent years. Each firm should have studied the program of needs.

During the interview ask the architect questions that may have arisen from the review of his/her resumes or from other individuals. You should ask:

1. If you were awarded a contract within the next two weeks, when could you begin work on our project?
2. After your design development plans have been approved, how long will it take before you can complete the final construction bid documents for final review and approval, thence to be released to all interested contractors?
3. How often will you inspect the project while under construction?
4. Would you or your representative be willing to meet with our parish council and/or building committee once a month to report on progress of the construction work and answer any questions concerning the project? Is this considered a part of your basic services?
5. Who designs and provides the plans and specifications for plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and structural divisions of work? Do you have mechanical, electrical, and structural engineers on your staff or do you broker out this work to engineering firms in private practice? If you do broker out this work, what firms do you normally use? Why? Do these firms also inspect their work during the construction?
6. (If a church): Are you willing to become familiar with Catholic liturgy to a degree that allows you to properly assimilate current theological and liturgical norms in a way that they are reflected within the buildings design?
7. What is your fee or charge to provide all architectural and engineering services required by this project? Explain how this fee or charge is paid out during the time involved from design stage through completed construction?
8. Are there any special consultant fees that you feel would be required? If so, define the need and possible additional cost over and above the basic fee?
9. Are you willing to work with a liturgical consultant?

After all interviews are completed, the committee should discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each architect and invite the one selected to submit a contract for approval by the parish and the Diocese. In some cases, it may be necessary to conduct a separate interview between the top two architects.