St. Francis de Sales retained Davis, Bowen & Friedel, Inc. (DBF), to provide programming, master planning, and phase I design services for an 18,000 SF, three-story parish/community center facility at the church/school site in Salisbury, Maryland.

While technically an addition to the existing school, the design of the parish center reflects the same architectural vocabulary of the neighboring church. The design included a 500-seat auditorium/gymnasium, men’s and women’s locker rooms, full-service kitchen, administrative offices for the school, and three additional classrooms.

Prior to design, complete master planning services were provided with the challenge of not only locating the future parish center, but to organize the site to be a more pedestrian-friendly campus. The site was reorganized to provide more efficient parking with a pedestrian promenade linking the church, parish center and school.

The parish center was designed utilizing the design vocabulary unique to the existing church, while allowing the church to remain the primary architectural focus of the campus.