St Stephen's Cathedral Northern Development

The Northern Development of St Stephen's Cathedral is nestled into an extremely narrow site in Brisbane's CBD, between the heritage-listed Telecommunications House to the North (actually the home of Conrad Gargett Architecture's office prior to the project), the Cathedral to the South, and the podium of the 32-storey Comalco Tower. With such influential neighbours, two major street frontages, and a three-page brief, Conrad Gargett Architecture was faced with one central guiding tenet: that the design embody the Catholic Church's belief in inclusion. The people of Brisbane needed a place to gather, celebrate and feel welcomed.

Formerly known as Heskith House, the site was purchased by the Archdiocesan with the specific intention of demolishing the six-storey structure and letting the adjoining Cathedral finally 'breathe' the Brisbane air. However once this was taken care of, all that was left was a gaping hole in the ground and surrounding it, a lot of important heritage to take into consideration. The site is a popular oasis at the heart of the city, and is also home to the Cathedral of St Stephen, the Chapel of St Stephen, the former School of St Ann's and the Brisbane Archdiocesan Administration Centre. Building on these structures, and inspired by the three phases of St Stephen's life as recorded in Renaissance art, the finished Northern Development Cathedral precinct features much-needed administration facilities, meeting rooms, choir practice space, retail tenancies, basement car-parking, landscaped outdoor areas and 'celebratory space'.

The two-storey services and carpark section abuts the high-rise Comalco podium, and places retail frontages onto Elizabeth and Charlotte Streets. The rest of the new centre, now known as the Francis Rush Centre, has only three facades. The southern frontage is fully glazed, but requires little additional shade relief because of its aspect and the Cathedral, of which it also projects subtle reflections. The only formal sun protection comes in the form of closely spaced aluminium louvres, to shield it from the reflected brilliance of the dazzling highrise towers nearby.

The bulk of the project is buried in a podium which continues on with that of the Cathedral. The plan for an open and shared space was to be embodied in a Liturgical Space: it now sits to the left of the Cathedral and mirrors the scale of the chapel, demonstrating the transition of the Roman Catholic Church in Brisbane from 19th century simplicity, through the calculated grandeur of the 20th century and to the 21st century celebration of open inclusiveness.

The new elements are divided into a series of equal strips, each highlighted by a different material - copper, stone, 'glam', air and earth - and layered so that they increase in density towards the Cathedral. The various facilities of the development are also segregated into each of these segments: services and ancillary spaces are housed in the darkened copper zone; private offices in the sandstone area; open meeting rooms and function rooms in the semi-private glam portion; a public loggia in the air section; and a landscaped earth space against the Cathedral's exterior. Perpendicular to this is an outdoor area divided conceptually into the three stages of St Stephen's life: a Contemplative Mound, a flattened public zone known as the Community Court and the Liturgical Amphitheatre. A sandstone sculpture, the River of Stone, also suggests the three stages of reflection, public preaching and martyrdom in St Stephen's life, running the full length of the outdoor area. The sculptured screen hanging from the ceiling of the loggia also nods towards this tripartite life, fading from anodised black aluminium to silver and then opening up to the sky as it reaches the Cathedral and the ceremonial Liturgical Space.

All the materials used follow the natural and spiritual theme of 'moving towards the light' and opening the space to the local people, and also mirror those used in the existing Cathedral: weathered copper, local sandstone, off-form concrete, Italian granite, bronze-coloured steel.

The public and private, indoor and outdoor realms are so interwoven as to bring the city life into harmony with the religious life. An office-worker taking a short-cut across the grounds may cross paths with a procession of priests entering the Cathedral, and busy pedestrians can absorb some of the quiet reverence of the internal sanctum. +

Previous. The simple but modern lines of the new design help to bridge the stylistic differences between the city and the classical sandstone Cathedral.

Top. The space was designed to be welcoming to all the community - commuters and clergy alike.

Second. The new Cathedral development is separated into juxtaposed zones of stone, glass, 'glam' and earth.

Bottom. The intentional contrast of nature, glass, 'glam' and stone can be seen from the central outdoor area.