St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Draper, UT

The arching, glass and brick exterior of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church  fronts the Skaggs Catholic Center, the nation’s largest parochial education complex. As a church within a center of learning, St. John’s presented a unique design challenge. St. John’s worship environment had to support liturgy and private contemplation, while accommodating educational functions and events.

Rambusch was chosen to realize the congregation’s vision of a church that would simultaneously and gracefully meet the needs of an instructional campus. Rambusch worked closely with the parish committee and architect to design the 3,200 square foot interior and carefully balance the parish’s liturgical and aesthetic goals with an achievable budget.

The parish congregation and community committees agreed upon final designs after discussions of massing and scale, materials, details and finish. Through its integrated studios, Rambusch workshops created and installed each interior component, which included liturgical furnishings, art glass windows and art metal.

St. John’s interior was completed in 2003. Today, worshippers and students who enter the church are bathed in natural light and surrounded by contrasts of scale and color and elements of patterning and repetition. All these combine to evoke both a sense of the sacred and a joyous vibrancy in an open, yet intimate interior that comfortably accommodates 800 congregants and a full program of campus activities.