St. Thomas Aquinas Parish & Student Center

In 2002, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church at the University of Virginia hired Train & Partners to design a new Parish and Student Center.

This was the final phase of a conceptual plan developed by the church in the 1980's. This phase included the Student Center, parish offices, a small worship chapel, multipurpose rooms, and a Parish Hall. The project is distributed over two floors and connects directly to the two levels of the existing sanctuary.

The courtyard scheme allows sunlight to flood into the major spaces, and resolves the relationship between the existing parking lots and the Sanctuary. A wonderful new entrance to the Sanctuary is one of the complementary benefits of the project scheme.