Set on a historically forested site that was once farmland in the 1900s, the architecture of Hecker House not only satisfies functional needs, but also promotes endeavors, elicits responses, and communicates meaning. Forms and materials reinforce meaningful context for the Paulist priests. Functional roof forms and drainage piers, for instance, architecturally reimagine the traditional book-and-sword iconography of the community’s patron, St. Paul the Apostle, while exposed chapel trusses evoke formal memory of the hammerbeam ceiling of the Paulists’ historic sanctuary, though in a modern idiom suited to the space. Patterning of the exterior brise soleil, overlaid on that of mullions and structure, evokes traditional leaded glass window walls, while varying in configuration within a common kit-of-parts to respond most effectively to different solar orientations, merging function with aesthetic form.

Leveraging the value of its property in response to changing trends in the religious sector, Hecker House provides a new home for the Paulists while simultaneously allowing redevelopment of St. Paul’s College as community charter schools and opening up ‘new’ land in an established neighborhood for sought-after housing stock. Interior space design facilitates the Paulists’ core mission of media outreach to demographics outside traditional evangelization, such as women and the LGBTQ community. This includes enhanced acoustic treatment of chapel surfaces for recording/streaming, a dedicated media control studio, and raised floor and video wall in the meeting hall to accommodate A/V/IT flexibility. Hecker House has a unique occupant group of seminarians, priests, and retired clergy. Sleeping units are suitable for permanent communal living for priests and retirees (necessitating heightened accessibility throughout), as well as student use during the academic year.