New Church Architecture: St. Mary of Sorrows in Fairfax, Virginia

The Church of St. Mary of Sorrows is a new church project that was undertaken by McCrery Architects in Fairfax, Virginia. This particular project follows, as McCrery generally does, a traditional, neo-classical idiom.  McCrery sets the backdrop and goals of the project for us:

Built ... in historic Fairfax, the new building is cruciform in plan, with transepts, sanctuary, and nave forming a Latin Cross.  The pedimented gable-ends and careful proportioning form a distinctly American version of Palladian Architecture, loved by early American builders for their religious meeting houses but reinterpreted here for a growing twenty-first century community. 

The exteriors are designed to be subtly feminine, characterized by their use of a rose-colored brick and restrained use of limestone accents.  Special emphasis is given to the east-facing entry façade with Ionic Columns forming a prominent eustyle portico and a Diocletian-inspired rose window above. 

The understated exteriors bely the grand and airy interiors, lit primarily through the large clerestory windows.  The immense amount of natural light is softened and animated by cross-patterned grilles derived from Roman motifs at each window and is supplemented with hanging pendant light fixtures.  The truth of the structure supporting this interior volume is physically expressed with large semi-circular arches defining each bay and is further expressed by paired Ionic columns at the lower side aisles. 

On axis with the entry is the sanctuary, separated from the nave floor by four steps. Here the Ionic gives way to the Corinthian Order supporting a great proscenium arch.  Rising behind the main altar is the elevated rear altar with the Tabernacle, identified as the most sacred location in the church by its Corinthian canopy.

The subtly 'feminine' exterior that McCrery mentions was no doubt symbolically chosen in relation to the patronal saint of the parish, Our Lady of Sorrows. That said, the exterior also has a classically Roman refinement about it -- one that puts me to mind of the beautiful facade of S. Lorenzo in Lucina in Rome. 

Turning toward the interior, the church is, as McCrery noted, a Latin cruciform shape. For the moment at least (and readers need to bear in mind that programmes of church decoration can take time -- in fact, the stained glass windows shown on the sanctuary wall were only recently installed) the interior is fairly plain, but fortunately the interior architectural elements, such as the Ionic columns that line the nave, add a note of important, yet restrained ornamentation. 

To either side of the small transepts are small shrines dedicated to Our Lady and St. Joseph, approximating the tradition of side altars. 

Within the sanctuary we find an 'altar of reservation' (where the tabernacle is, and approximating a traditional high altar and reredos) and the freestanding 'altar of sacrifice' -- which is, in actuality, the primary altar of the church.  All of this has been framed by a grand triumphal style arch. 

Here is a closer look at the polychrome marble altar, which includes a Last Supper relief, however it is the pairing of the coloured stones as well as the curvilinear detailing on the altar that really captures my particular attention. 

The element of this church which really stood out to me, however, are the Roman style transennae (or lattice work) that McCrery has used for the windows; a classical Roman feature and one that, here in this ecclesiastical context, is heavily reminiscent of those found in S. Sabina in Rome I think. 

To really appreciate their impact, however, one must look at them when light is seen streaming through them into the church:

As I have written on a previous occasion, I feel like this style of window is something that really should find much broader use in contemporary church architecture. Not only does it allow more natural light to enter into the church, it also offers a form of decorativeness that both exudes classical beauty as well as "Romanitas."  

This is the second such work of contemporary liturgical architecture that I have seen adopt this in recent years and it is heartening to see contemporary architects and parishes embrace this noble and beautiful option. 

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