HGA and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture have won the international Religious Architecture and Art Design Award for Countryside Community Church in Omaha, Nebraska. Co-sponsored by Faith & Form, the prestigious award recognized the church in the Religious Architecture: New Facilities category.
“The Religious Architecture Award acknowledges the great work Countryside Community Church is doing to create fellowship within its congregation and reach out to other faiths to build trust,” said Nancy Blankfard, principal with HGA. “As a member of the Tri-Faith Initiative that shares a campus with a synagogue and mosque, Countryside reflects the positive progress we can make working together. We are excited to accept this award with our client as we recognize the progress we’ve made and still need to make.”
Community Outreach
Located on a 38-acre campus shared with Temple Israel and the American Muslim Institute, Countryside Community Church envisioned an intimate environment for worship, child and adult education, community daycare, music performance, fellowship, and community outreach.
“The church embodies our values as a Christ-centered group that professes tolerance, environmental stewardship, and global engagement,” said Rick MacInnes, Relocation Chair for Countryside and Vice Chair of the Tri-Faith Initiative Board. “We joined Tri-Faith Initiative because of the shared commitment to celebrating religious differences and demonstrating Countryside’s open and affirming mission that ‘All Are Welcome Here.’ This award puts our mission on a global stage and will hopefully generate ongoing dialogue beyond our community.”
The aspirational goals set were critical to the design that allows for both missions in convening diverse communities, encouraging candid conversations, and building bold partnerships.
Spiritual Planning
In approaching the design, HGA worked in partnership with TEN x TEN to create a campus plan that ties together the existing mosque, synagogue, interpretative center, and new church. The site plan includes landscaping, ponds, walking paths, outdoor gathering spots, parking, and the centrally located Abraham’s Circle, which symbolizes the connection between the three Abrahamic faiths.
“Countryside’s architecture reflects the continuum of Christian tradition while expressing a sense of welcome to the diverse spiritual traditions committed to the vision of the Tri-Faith Initiative, ‘to build bridges of respect, trust and acceptance,’” said Michael Alley, principal with Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture. “We sought to create spaces that are spiritually uplifting, honest and appealing to the senses.”
Architectural Design
The materials reflect their natural beauty, with handmade terracotta tiles, cedar planks, slate floor, raw steel, and heavy timber liturgical elements. The raw materials allude to the metaphorical translation of humans as imperfect beings.
The exterior architecture presents simple rectangular volumes, clad in horizontal bands of dark terracotta shingles that ground the church to its site, while a vertical bell tower clad in silver metal panels soars upward.
In the sanctuary, cedar planks modulate sound as curving pews follow the gently sloping floor. The semicircular altar area, 14 inches lower than the room entrances, places the pastors within clear view of fellow parishioners from every vantage point—an arrangement likened to gathering around a campfire. Large windows provide views outside and remind members of the Tri-Faith neighbors and campus community. Support spaces beyond the sanctuary expand social, educational, and outreach programming.
True to Countryside’s environmental commitment, sustainable strategies include geothermal, solar-ready roof construction for photo-voltaic panels, an energy efficient in-floor air system, and a highly insulated wall system.
“This church advances Countryside’s deeply held conviction that people of different beliefs can get along, thrive together, and make an impact in their community and the world,” MacInnes added.
Other collaborators on the project included owner’s representative Project Advocates, contractor Vrana Construction, and sustainability consultant, Verdis.
HGA’s Legacy
HGA is a national leader in designing contemplative and faith-based architecture. Among our award-winning projects are Bigelow Chapel, Lakewood Cemetery Garden Mausoleum, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, and the recently completed Evolve Church.
About the Award
Founded in 1978 to honor architecture, liturgical design, and art for religious spaces, the Religious Art and Architecture Design Awards program is co-sponsored by Faith & Form, Partners for Sacred Places, and Interfaith Design. Winning projects will be recognized at the Interfaith Design reception during the AIA Conference on Architecture in San Francisco, June 7 – 10, 2023.
View the official award announcement from Partners for Sacred Places here.
