Merriman Holt Powell Architects

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Missouri City Branch, Fort Bend Library Phase 2, Missouri City

Missouri City Branch, Fort Bend Library Phase 2, Missouri City

An addition to our firm’s original building, Phase 2 is designed to create an iconic new image for the library to the Missouri City community. The three-story building contains reading areas, study rooms, and a computer lab. The third floor multi-purpose room opens out onto a balcony with prominent views to the City Hall and the new Missouri City Campus of Houston Community College.


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Missouri City Branch, Fort Bend Library Phase 2, Missouri City

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Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta

Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta

Located in Atlanta’s Buckhead area, Peachtree Presbyterian Church grew over time without a coherent master plan. Our firm created a new light-filled fellowship gathering space, which has become the “living room” for the church. A gracious curving stair, as well as an elevator, connect the gathering space to the sanctuary one level above. An underground tunnel connects the gathering space to “The Lodge”, a new two-story 36,000 sq ft youth and young adult center which is located across busy Roswell Road. The second floor of the youth center hosts Peachtree’s contemporary service in a 500-seat worship venue on Sundays. During the week, The Lodge Cafe provides a casual place to meet and grab a cup of coffee or a snack. A 360 car parking structure behind The Lodge provides much needed additional parking for the church.


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Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta

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Early Learning Center, First Presbyterian Church of Lufkin

Early Learning Center, First Presbyterian Church of Lufkin

First Presbyterian Church of Lufkin sought to establish the finest pre-school in the city and to attract young families to the church; with the help of a generous donor, it created the new Early Childhood Learning Center. The one-story building is set on the southern edge of a wooded site and adjacent to the original mid-century church designed by Wilson, Morris, Crain & Anderson. It consists of classrooms, offices, a spacious indoor play room, and expansive exterior decks and playgrounds. It maintains the intimate scale and simple forms of the original buildings by clustering shed roof forms on either side of a lower flat roofed corridor. The canted indoor play room opens to views of a grove of existing trees and a new playground to the south. On the side, the canted form provides a gracious and inviting front door to the school. The new building adopts the existing material palette of masonry, wood veneer, and heavy timber. The broad wood framed overhangs and delicate covered walkways connect the campus together while matching the structural rhythm and scale set by the original buildings.


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Early Learning Center, First Presbyterian Church of Lufkin

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Sugar Creek Baptist Church, Sugar Land

Sugar Creek Baptist Church, Sugar Land

A major goal in planning the 115,000 sq ft children’s building/gymnasium addition was to create a “wow” space that conveyed the church’s commitment to children’s ministry. A colorful curving slide marks the entry into the first floor Pre-K classrooms. A café and bookstore adjoin a 10,000 sq ft gathering space that has become the heart of the campus. A 10,700 sq ft gymnasium is designed for performances and informal worship and can be subdivided to create additional classroom space.


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Sugar Creek Baptist Church, Sugar Land

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First Methodist Houston, Houston

First Methodist Houston, Houston

First Methodist Houston has been a Houston landmark since its construction in 1910. With the dynamic growth of Houston’s Midtown, the church embarked on a long-range plan with our firm to make its historic building more inviting, especially to families with children and to youth. The first phase of that plan provides an accessible path to the sanctuary and created a generous gathering area that encourages fellowship before and after services and. The renovated chapel draws on the historic qualities of the sanctuary. The renovated pre-school area provides a vibrant, fun space for young children. Other elements of the plan include a columbarium and new facilities for the church’s outreach to the homeless.


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First Methodist Houston, Houston

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St. Theresa Catholic Church and School, Houston

St. Theresa Catholic Church and School, Houston

Our master plan for St. Theresa Catholic Church provides a gracious new connection between the church and the rest of the parish campus while solving major security and flow problems that have plagued it. The plan moves the gymnasium from the original church fellowship hall to the larger parish community center and restores the fellowship hall to its original function. The resulting plan places all church and school functions in contiguous zones and presents a more inviting image to the community.


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St. Theresa Catholic Church and School, Houston

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First Presbyterian Church, Dallas

First Presbyterian Church Dallas

This historic church has served the downtown Dallas community since 1856, from the day after Dallas was incorporated as a city. Several additions were added as the church grew over time, each at a different floor level. Much of the church was inaccessible to older members who were unable to navigate the numerous stairs. The original Neo-Classical church and its Art Deco fellowship hall were designed to enter from the street, but when a six-level parking garage was added, the main entry became through the parking garage. Our firm provided a new 10,000 sq ft welcome center that created an inviting front door and a fresh new image for the church. In addition, 40,000 sq ft of existing space were gutted to create direct, gracious, and accessible paths to all parts of the campus. We transformed a dark and depressing gym into a light-filled activity space with a roof deck overlooking the city, and adjacent dull and institutional youth classrooms into a vibrant new youth center.


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First Presbyterian Church Dallas

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Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church Columbarium, Houston

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church Columbarium, Houston

The new columbarium and prayer garden for Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church have activated the most beautiful but most unused area of the campus. The columbarium respects the architecture of the 1972 Sanctuary, designed by Houston architects MacKie & Kamrath. The rhythm of the niche walls and the shade trellises echoes the sanctuary detailing. The gates and fencing similarly respond to the design of the sanctuary. Openings in the walls of the columbarium frame views to the broad front lawn of the church while the fountain provides gentle masking for the street noise. Stained glass panels in the fountain wall visually tie the prayer garden to the columbarium.


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Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church Columbarium, Houston

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Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas

Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas

The church is located at the entrance to Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Our firm’s addition and renovations blend seamlessly with the original’s 1926 Gothic architecture. The 120,000 sq ft addition and 80,000 sq ft renovation provided additional space and addressed numerous flow and accessibility issues. By lowering the floor of the classroom building to the level of the Sanctuary in a dramatic gesture, and adding an elevator and wide gracious steps, we were able to replace the steep five-foot wide stairway, small foyer, and a dark double loaded corridor that formerly connected the sanctuary to the adjacent classroom/administration building. Offices were relocated to an upper floor, to allow for a generous new fellowship gathering space overlooking the adjacent courtyard. In addition the project provided new children’s, youth, and adult classrooms; a new reception hall and kitchen; and a new “front door” to the church. The new 800-seat amphitheater provides a home for the church’s contemporary worship service and a venue for numerous community events.


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Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas

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ST. PAUL’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH BANKSTON GREEN, HOUSTON

ST. PAUL’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH BANKSTON GREEN, HOUSTON

Located in the heart of the Museum District, the front yard of the historic 1929 Gothic Sanctuary Building was underutilized and uninviting. The Bankston Green project, named after the longest serving Senior Pastor in the church’s history, Dr. James L. Bankston, completely reworked this area to provide an inviting prayer garden around a pre-existing Labyrinth. The project won a 2014 Keep Houston Beautiful Landmark Award and is welcoming to members and the general public alike, serving as a new “door” to the church. Before the project, it was rare to see more than one individual using the space. Now, one sees large numbers of people gathering, praying and walking the labyrinth. The project is the second phase of our firm’s long range Master Plan for the campus.


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ST. PAUL’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH BANKSTON GREEN, HOUSTON

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St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Houston

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Houston

The 10,000 sq ft addition and 25,000 sq ft renovation of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church is the first phase of a long range Master Plan developed by our firm in 2008. The work provides for expansion and enhancement of St. Paul’s School and Sunday School space and has transformed a dark, outdated building into a light, vibrant, and new facility that is especially inviting to children. The building provides a fresh contrast to the historic Gothic sanctuary and has been certified LEED Silver. The scope of work included renovation of the fellowship hall, a new terrace overlooking Main Street, restoring exterior stone, and replacing existing windows with new energy efficient windows.


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St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Houston

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First Presbyterian Church, Houston

First Presbyterian Church, Houston

The Lancaster Center addition provided an 85,000 sq ft activity center and classroom building for First Presbyterian Church and a new middle school for The Presbyterian School. The great hall converts from a gymnasium into an 1,100-seat amphitheater that was designed for contemporary worship, drama, concerts, conferences, and school assemblies. The adjacent Palm Court gathering area houses a coffee shop. Other components include a new welcome center, a mini-gym, a fitness center, a youth center, and classrooms.


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First Presbyterian Church, Houston

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South Main Baptist Church, Houston

South Main Baptist Church, Houston

Located in Houston’s developing Midtown, the church sought to update its facilities and present a more visible and welcoming “front door” to the community. The new Welcome Center forms a transition in style between the beautiful, richly detailed Romanesque sanctuary and the spare, flat roofed education buildings. A new glass walkway above the existing cloister connects second floor education spaces to the sanctuary, also located on the second level. Renovation of existing buildings created a more light-filled, appealing environment. A second phase of work renovated the pre-school and children’s space to create more inviting and vibrant spaces that would be attractive to the young families the church sought to attract. The renovation of the adult space created a series of gathering spaces that promote community building.


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South Main Baptist Church, Houston

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First Presbyterian Church, Hilton Head Island

First Presbyterian Church, Hilton Head Island

First Presbyterian Church sought to create a fellowship gathering space that would strengthen the sense of community among members of the congregation and offer an inviting space in which to welcome visitors. The new welcome center serves that role and enhances the church’s outreach to the community which includes a variety of events such as concerts by the Hilton Head Island Symphony. The welcome center creates a gracious space for gathering and intermission for such events. (Our firm served as Design Architect for the project).


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First Presbyterian Church, Hilton Head Island

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Providence Classical School, Spring

Providence Classical School, Spring

Our master plan conceived of the school as a a series of buildings grouped around courtyards with a lake as its focal point. A curving walkway creates a cross-campus “main street” that ties the whole composition together, with an intentional interplay of indoor and outdoor spaces. The massing of the classroom buildings allows for several outdoor classrooms. A covered terrace with views out to the lake creates an inviting place to eat lunch. The one-story lower school is located at the front of the campus next to the library and administrative offices. The middle and upper school buildings flank the central quad, with the chapel at one end and the lake at the other. The competition gymnasium is located to the rear of the campus adjacent to the playing fields, with a smaller gymnasium/multi-purpose room off the central quadrangle and adjacent to the library. Across the central quad from this is the cafeteria. A performing arts center is planned adjacent to the competition gymnasium.


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Providence Classical School, Spring