Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church & National Shrine

New Facilities Honor Award

Santiago Calatrava-Festina Lente and Koutsomitis Architects PC

New York, New York

Founded in 1916, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine is the anchor for a vibrant New York neighborhood. The original building was destroyed on September 11, 2001, during the World Trade Center attack. The new church reopened in 2022 as a place for remembrance.

The Hagia Sophia–inspired dome features 40 windows and 40 “ribs,” the same number of ribs in St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which are visible from the interior. The church façades are Pentelikon marble from Greece, which is the same stone used for the Parthenon. Stone cladding at opaque façade areas are 2.5-inch-thick panels anchored to the building’s concrete structure. Façades incorporate translucent panels with thin stone sandwiched between glass plates. The lighting design allows the church to read as solid stone by day and to glow at night.

The entrance is through an arch that spans the stair towers on the west façade. The main altar lies under a central dome, at the center of which is the image of Christ. The iconographic paintings were executed by a priest-monk from the Greek Monastery of Xenophontos on Mt. Athos and brought to New York City for installation.

Jury Comments:

This is a spiritual jewel in the middle of the city. It is historic and modern at the same time, expressing timeless qualities of sacred space in a modern way. Like a diamond, it glows from inside.

Project Team Members:

Nicholas Koutsomitis / Principal, Architect of Record
Santiago Calatrava / Design Architect
Alberto Prieto-Miranda / Project Architect-Manager
Frank Lorino / Project Design Architect
Maria Gomez / Senior Designer

Project Consultants:

Thornton Tomasetti
MG Engineering
DLR Group
Langan
Cosentini Associates
Lally Acoustics
Introba
VDA
MOSO Studio

Photo Credit: Alan Karchmer