Church of St. Brigid-St. Emeric

New York, NY, United States

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Church of St. Brigid-St. Emeric

New York, NY, United States

Firm

Acheson Doyle Partners Architects, P.C

Type

Cultural › Religious

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2013

Since 1848 St. Brigid’s Church has been a significant anchor for New York City and the East Village community. It is one of the Irish born Patrick Keely’s earliest churches and one of the more than 600 buildings by this famous architect. Sadly, the church was closed in 2004 due to severe structural damage. A shrinking congregation left the Archdiocese with few resources for repair, but a vocal community argued strenuously for its reopening. An anonymous donation in 2008 made the difference between an appropriate rehabilitation and work that would simply repair as inexpensively as possible. Through a detailed survey, ADP identified key features of the existing building that could be preserved, those that could be repaired and those that needed to be replaced. To halt the structural deterioration, a method of underpinning the foundation with steel piles encased in concrete was devised. The street facades were originally brownstone, but were covered with stucco as part of an earlier renovation. Water infiltration behind the stucco had made the brownstone unsalvageable. ADP worked with a local pre-cast concrete manufacturer to develop custom pre-cast units matching the old brownstone. The brick east wall at the rear of the church, had been irreparably damaged through settling. With much of the original plaster Reredos intact on the interior side, this wall could not be rebuilt. Instead, the exterior of this wall was encased in a poured in place concrete “liner wall” to permanently stabilized it. On the interior, the portion of the Reredos that had been destroyed was rebuilt. The original painted, “art glass” clerestory windows were repaired. The remaining stained glass windows had been largely damaged beyond the point of repair except for medallions. Utilizing elements of stained glass windows from a decommissioned church of the same age, the decision was made to create new stained glass windows. There was little remaining evidence of the highly decorative stenciling visible in early photographs other than a large inscription and two emblems over the Reredos -which were restored. Working through renderings and mock-ups, ADP developed a color palette that celebrates the spatial qualities and elements of the interior. The intent of our rehabilitation was to preserve the original features that remained, repair elements at the end of their lifespan, and rebuilt unstable structure that threatened the church using modern construction techniques.