Completed 2024

When Bertram Goodhue designed the 1914 Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer, he wanted the individual worshipper to be able to leave behind the hustle and bustle of the modern world and immerse themselves in an interior that would stimulate their spiritual senses.  Goodhue and his partner Ralph Adam Cram were convinced that Gothic art and architecture with their philosophies of mankind, the world, the Divine, and the interaction between the three offered the best tools of expression for the creation of sacred space.  To this end, even the confessional spaces that are nested within the parapet wall of the transept were configured so that the penitent would enter into one of these claustrophobic, monk-like cells in total darkness.  The intended spiritual experience aside, Goodhue’s treatment of the confessional spaces needed to be brought into the twenty-first century regarding how the sacrament of reconciliation is celebrated and administered in the modern world. This is the task that MSB was given.  The original design intent was retained yet slightly altered to accommodate the basic needs of the very active parish.