According to John Dale, Design Architect working in association with Aleks Istanbullu Architects AIA of Santa Monica, CA, the goal of the project was to create a new children's chapel and a larger parish hall to allow adequate space to accommodate the entire congregation at once. “Beyond that, we wanted to build a different kind of chapel,†he said. “The old chapel was a dark, long and narrow space, so we wanted to create a different kind of setting for the children. We wanted to create something special -- to create extroverted spaces in contrast to the existing buildings.â€
In addition, Dale said that it was important to the congregation to make the buildings somewhat contemporary while still being respectful to the history of the church. “Another goal was to emulate the form of the older buildings, which is why the use of slate roofs became very important,†he added.