Sited on a 23-acre mesa looking out to the farming fields below, Stone Ridge Church is visible from the interstate loaded with travelers between major southwest cities. In 1999, DeBartolo architects conceived a long range plan for the campus and assisted the church in setting a vision and direction for their future growth. Several years later, the church leadership re-engaged the architects to implement the conceptually designed phase one, including a worship space (future fellowship space), educational classrooms for infants through adult age, and the key phase one courtyard where an oasis of trees and grass surround an outdoor baptismal pool.
The building is notable for its simple, platonic form and material composition. Through the use of corrugated zincalume and ventilated cement board panels DeBartolo architects has developed a contemporary and civic architecture that maintains a sympathy for the site. A strong sense of community is fostered through the spatial arrangement of the 'outdoor rooms' creating an intimate yet grand plaza that accommodates people before and after services and well as buffers the pedestrians from nearby traffic. These shaded outdoor spaces, charged by surrounding activities, serve as the core of public activity and 'place'.
CREDITS:contractor: arthur porter construction
architect: debartolo architects ltd.
structural engineer: rudow+berry structural engineers
civil engineer: dahl robbins + associates
landscape architect: e group
mechanical engineer: associated mechanical engineers
electrical engineer: associated engineering
acoustics: wardin-cockriel + associates
photographer: bill timmerman