Sizemore Group

The 1,200-seat nave of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church is a four-story cruciform that is visually supported by giant arches in the shape of praying hands as well as the shape of a boat, which represents the many who escaped Vietnam to religious freedom. The boat expression was furthered with the use of a plank wood decking for the nave ceiling.

A 118-sq-ft steeple that rises at the center of the cruciform benefits from the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church's location at one of the highest sites in the county. The steeple can be seen for miles along I-85 through metro Atlanta. The exterior blends elements of a traditional catholic cruciform church and Vietnamese churches, including the Vietnamese symbolic gateway of three stacked forms reaching to the sky representing the church on earth, man on earth, and our heavenly Father.

COVID-19 has changed the way we interact with each other and conduct business. But in order for economic development and community planning to continue, it's important for municipal leaders and planners to find ways of gathering communities safely and gaining public consensus for projects in development. How do we reinvent traditional public gatherings and instead build consensus virtually for community projects? #pandemicawakening

The center aisle floor pattern of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church represents the mats used to dismember the Vietnamese martyrs. The seven sacraments are represented by the five mats, the baptismal font, and the altar.

The new Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church was designed to be a landmark for the Vietnamese Catholic culture and religion. With a design directive to honor the 118 Vietnamese Martyrs, the design team painstakingly sought to identify genuine ways to incorporate cultural elements while honoring the church’s budget. Every element of design interior and exterior was thoughtfully considered, prioritizing meaningful cultural elements over architectural fashion.

How will the economy change following the pandemic? We recently had the opportunity to speak with Thomas Cunningham, PhD, chief economist at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, about the economic impact of the pandemic. He noted that one of the things the pandemic has done for the economy is hasten a lot of things that were going to happen eventually. Instead of slowly over time, these changes to businesses and society showed up in one day. #pandemicawakening

How has the pandemic impacted the global environment? Have the changes to our behaviors during quarantine had a lasting impact on air quality, water quality and pollution? We recently had the opportunity to discuss the pandemic with Brad Bass, PhD, an environmentalist and status professor with the University of Toronto. Dr. Bass believes we are in the midst of a grand environmental experiment like we've never seen before. #pandemicawakening

The Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church congregation was looking for a new sacred worship space that would celebrate the church’s unique American Vietnamese Catholic culture and religion. We addressed the design in an authentic and meaningful way to create a house fitting for God while remaining intimate to the human experience.

Campus life as we know it may never be the same following the pandemic. So, what do we want campus life to become in a post-pandemic world? And how can the design of physical spaces on college campuses accommodate a refreshed vision for campuses following the pandemic? In our #pandemicawakening series, we're exploring how COVID-19 will impact the design of cultural places and beautiful spaces.

Sizemore Group planned and designed the beautiful Town Center East in the heart of downtown Milton, Ga. The new mixed-use development provides walkable retail and office space to Crabapple Village, which is quickly becoming a regional model for walkable rural development.

Meet Yirey! Yirey Fianko is a project architect at Sizemore Group. She is passionate about working collaboratively and brainstorming design decisions to produce quality work and functional, beautiful buildings. Yirey joined Sizemore Group in October 2019 with 15 years of experience, most recently working as an architectural project architect for State University Construction Fund at SUNY Purchase. She loves designing a wide variety of buildings and watching those designs become a physical reality enjoyed by the general public. Since joining Sizemore Group, Yirey has worked on the Monroe public safety building, the 400 Bishop mixed-use building, and Sizemore Group's office storefront renovation.

Are we experiencing a #pandemicawakening? Could a positive shift in the way we worship, work, play and live come from our pandemic experience? Our CEO Bill de St. Aubin explores these questions and considers the long-term impact to our economy and environment beyond 2020 in his new article: We Need An Olmsted Revolution in 2020.

Higher education institutions faced unprecedented challenges as they reopened last month following the global shutdown. On Sept. 22, our very own Lily Del Berrios will participate in a webinar hosted by the AGB (Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges) to offer insights and strategies on how to transform and design a campus for the future both in terms of physical space as well as for success in the digital realm. Registration is complimentary; we hope you'll join us!