Holy Vietnamese
Martyrs Catholic Church
PROJECT SCOPE
PROJECT SCOPE
DESCRIPTION
Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church is a larger-than-life Construction Manager at Risk project that required creative problem solving and a custom approach. This cathedral, which overlooks Exit 102 on Interstate I-85, was designed with reference to Vietnamese churches simultaneous to traditional Catholic influences.
The new church features a narthex, baptismal font, chapel, sanctuary, bridal room, and confession spaces. Scope included extensive site work and paving.
FEATURES
Exterior Finishes
Two steeple towers complete with lit crosses bring the cathedral to a total of 102 feet tall. The cathedral’s exterior veneer is glass fiber reinforced plastic.
Interior Finishes
The sanctuary’s ribbed, vaulted interior suggests a ship as a symbolic gesture to the first Holy Vietnamese Martyrs’ journey across the ocean. These ribs are a combination of prefabricated Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) and structural steel.
Imported Vietnamese marble covers the entire cathedral floor.
CHALLENGES
Custom Finishes
Almost nothing erected, installed, or placed for this project was standard. This proved a challenge for pricing and procurement of custom materials satisfactory to the Owner while upholding the building’s structural needs.
Value Engineering Solutions
During Preconstruction, the project team’s construction experience, creativity, and collaborative efforts culminated in Value Engineering efforts aimed at not only preserving the budget but reducing the schedule.
For example, rather than supporting the cathedral entirely from structural steel, the project team introduced prefabricated Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) to the plan. These SIPs allow for larger spans between structural steel members to reduce the cost from the steel, satisfy all insulation code requirements, and reduce the overall schedule due to relative speed of installation.
Solutions In Practice
The SIP solution, along with other custom-based Value Engineering efforts, provided challenges in installation due to its non-standard nature. To address this, Van Winkle organized and maintained thorough pre-installation meetings prior to applying the team’s solutions during construction. The significant research, technique, and innovation Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church required makes the project as much a work of art as it is a construction marvel.