Saint Stephen Catholic Church

Exploring the architectural challenges of a historic German Gothic Church suffering from over a hundred years of wear and damage from water intrusion.

Category
Education & Institutional

Location
New Orleans, LA

Size
15,605 SF

Year
2018

Located on historic Napoleon Avenue in New Orleans, Saint Stephen Catholic Church is among the oldest places of worship in New Orleans. Trapolin-Peer Architects was selected by the Archdiocese of New Orleans to provide architectural services for the restoration of the Church, which had suffered from over a hundred years of wear and damage from water intrusion.

The design team coordinated a thorough investigative process with multiple consultants to compile scoping documentation that identified the building’s interior and exterior conditions of. The team developed the necessary methods to restore the building’s exterior envelope to prevent further moisture intrusion.


The project included restoration of the historic pine floors, repairing and restoring failing plaster walls, restoring the exterior envelope and facade, as well as replacing the mechanical system and interior and exterior lighting. The renovation is the Church’s first in its 130 years of existence.