Texas Council of Engineering Companies

Overflowing Services Require More Space:

Designing and building a church that captures the form and details of a medieval Gothic cathedral isn’t an everyday assignment. The last time that even modest-sized Gothic churches were built regularly was the 1920's, so there was no shortage of challenges in adding a sanctuary and towers at the historic St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston. Creating space to accommodate overflowing crowds, air conditioning systems, a large pipe organ and stained glass windows required special engineering, precise timing and careful budget management.





		Gothic Church Construction Tests Modern Building Know-how

		St. Martin’s Episcopal Church Employs Engineering Expertise to Add New Sanctuary

		Overflowing Services Require More Space: Designing and building a church that captures the form and details of a medieval Gothic cathedral isn’t an everyday assignment. The last time that even modest-sized Gothic churches were built regularly was the 1920's, so there was no shortage of challenges in adding a sanctuary and towers at the historic St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston. Creating space to accommodate overflowing crowds, air conditioning systems, a large pipe organ and stained glass windows required special engineering, precise timing and careful budget management.

		Innovative Engineering Required: To complete the project within four years, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church worked with a team of architects and engineers to address these challenging issues. The firms quickly realized that their expertise would be seriously tested because of the short time frame for construction, the small budget of $36.4 million and the need to replicate, in other materials, the forms of an architecture style which was based on the strength of load-bearing stone.

		Unique Solutions for an Unconventional Building: The Texas CEC member engineers selected a series of steel frames, spaced at 16 feet on center, to match the architectural module, forming the nave and two X-braced steel tubes forming the tower. The frames matched the slope of the interior and exterior and became the “bones” of the Gothic architecture. In contrast to medieval cathedrals, where the roof was supported by triangular trusses and the peak of the interior walls was below the eaves, the CEC engineers curved the bottom of the truss such that the peak of the ceiling could actually be above the eave. This saved considerable brick and improved the proportions of the exterior without reducing the scale of the interior.

		Trusted Engineering Partner Delivers Value: The project was completed on schedule in four years, in time for a large pipe organ to be installed before the first service was held on Easter Sunday 2004. The traditional-looking church hides an innovative structure that used a mix of unique structural solutions to meet the architectural requirements without excessive cost.

		This is another case study of a Texas CEC member applying its expertise and judgment to the specialized need of an individual client to assure a finished project reflecting quality and value.


		*The engineering services expense of a construction project typically is one of its least costly components. Yet that independent disciple is critical in controlling overall cost and quality. Trust (Look to) the engineering company professionals to assure quality and true bottom line value in construction.