This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Walls & Ceilings logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Walls & Ceilings logo
  • Home
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Digital Edition
  • News
  • Topics
    • Drywall
    • Stucco/EIFS
    • Ceiling/Acoustics
    • Metal Framing
    • Spray Textures/Paint
    • Fireproofing
    • Plaster
    • Building Envelope/Waterproofing
    • Insulation
    • ICFs/SIPs
    • Tools and Software
    • Trims/Moldings
  • Columns
    • All in Agreement
    • All Things Gypsum
    • Art & Craft of Plastering
    • Centered on Solutions
    • Exiting Your Business
    • Industry Voices
    • Stucco Stop
    • Up Front
  • Products
    • Product of the Month
    • Product Buzz Guides
  • Events
    • Industry Events
    • Webinars
    • INTEX
  • Multimedia
    • Take our Quiz!
    • Videos
    • Image Galleries
    • Infographics
    • Interactive Spotlights
  • More
    • W&C Store
    • Market Research
    • eNewsletters
    • Classifieds
    • CEUs
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • White Papers
    • Industry Links
  • Building Enclosure
    • Webinars
  • Blue Book
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Home » Applying Arches in Architecture
Ceilings/AcousticsExterior

Applying Arches in Architecture

St. George Church Raises its Dome

Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox
November 1, 2014
KEYWORDS arch / architecture / curved surfaces / domes
Reprints
No Comments

Most architectural projects deal with tight sequencing, but few must work around the schedules of renowned Greek iconographers. With only a few precious weeks available to work in the U.S., a team of artists managed to create exquisite hand painted masterpieces on the ceilings of a new Greek Orthodox church in Indiana. At the same time schedules for the construction team were suddenly up-ended.

Jobsite

St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church Fishers, Ind.

Architects: CJK Design Group

Structural Engineers: Fink Roberts & Petrie Inc.

General Contractor: St. George Antiochian Church

Project Manager: David Mouck, the Gill Company

Dome Consultant: Phil Liptak

Framing Structural Engineers: THH Inc.

Dome Solution Provider: Radius Track 

St. George Orthodox Christian Church is a symphony of curves, arches, domes, barrel vaults and free flowing spaces. One is hard pressed to find a right angle anywhere. To ensure each curve was executed perfectly, Radius Track was charged with providing all the curved-right cold-formed steel tracks and studs for the Byzantine dome and all of the curved ceiling details. The challenge: schedules had to be quickly revised around the arrival of Dr. George Kourdis, one of the world’s leading iconographers and his team.

Completing the interiors quickly became a top priority and Radius Track had to supply material at record speed. The drywall contractors followed, and the iconographers weren’t far behind.

“It was like we were chasing each other,” jokes David Mouck, project manager and Partner with the Gill Co. However, the project was completed with an unusual sense of peace and quiet; the iconographers pray continuously as they work, working on scaffolding that went up to 60 feet above ground in places.

Because Radius Track was able to provide perfectly formed curves, this provided the iconographers with extraordinarily smooth surfaces. Each painting was done with the ancient tradition of mixing eggs and white wine, using minerals and herbs to create color.

“The iconography has a translucent, floating quality that seems to bring the paintings toward the viewer as you gaze upward. It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced,” says Mouck.

Sometimes architectural projects are alluring enough to compel Southern Californians to leave the sunshine and head for the Midwest. Engineer David Mouck, owner of the Gill Company and Phil Liptak, a dome consultant, had collaborated on the spectacular St. Andrews Antiochian Orthodox Church in Southern California.

A new project, St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Indianapolis, led them eastward. Both projects were designed by CJK Design Group, widely noted for its architectural expertise in building traditional churches. St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church has a significant dome, which for the Orthodox faith, is symbolic of eternity and heaven. Forty feet wide, the dome stands 54 feet above the ground. Mouck had worked with Radius Track in California, and knew that the company’s simple “dome in a box” solution would yield the exacting results he would need to deliver a successful result.

“Domes are grand statements, and if you are going to do one, it should be astonishing,” says Mouck. “Radius Track shipped 92 perfectly curved ribs attachable to a compression ring and all the precut plywood. All we had to do was tweak a few things and assemble it on the ground.”

While the weather was often below freezing in Indianapolis, the Southern Californians prevailed over their first Midwestern winter, sometimes using a 400,000 BTU heater to keep the snow and ice off the dome, which was assembled on the ground.

 “Building the dome by hand is the only way to do it right,” asserts Mouck. The dome’s exterior stainless steel sheathing treated with a titanium nitride coating to make it sparkle and become mirror-like came to life in a metal shop temporarily relocated from California by Liptak who hand cut the metal on the site to precisely fit.  

Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to Walls and Ceilings Magazine.

Related Articles

Finish an Arched Doorway in Minutes

Applying Stucco in Hot Temperatures

The History of Plaster in Architecture

The Green Thumb<br>Cathedral in the Sky: Sustainability Restores an Architectural Masterpiece Restored

Related Directories

Decorawall Inc.

Master Wall Inc.

Plastic Components Inc.

Total Wall Inc.

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Subscribe For Free!
  • Print & Digital Edition Subscriptions
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Popular Stories

Clemson University

Drywall Brings Innovation to Clemson University's New Business School Building

denselement

Emerald Queen Casino: Bringing Majesty to Life with Panelized Construction

WC Contractor of the Year

W&C Contractor of 2019: Integrated Interiors Inc.

Shoppe 1

Metal Wall Panels Add Edge to Florida Shopping Center

risk management

Insurance Market Conditions for the Construction Industry

Walls & Ceilings 2019 Contractor of the Year

Products

Plaster and Drywall Assemblies Manual

Plaster and Drywall Assemblies Manual

This is a comprehensive manual that goes beyond codes and standards, providing expert guidance in design, detailing, material selection and troubleshooting for plaster and drywall.

See More Products

Quiz-WC-paint

Walls & Ceilings Magazine

Walls & Ceilings December 2019

2019 December

Check out the December 2019 edition of Walls & Ceilings: 2019 Contractor of the Year, most featured products of 2019, drywall, vertical construction, the difference between vapor & air barriers and much more!
View More Create Account
  • Resources
    • List Rental
    • Industry Links
    • Construction Group
    • Partners
    • Privacy Policy
    • Survey And Sample
  • Want More
    • Connect
    • Subscribe
  • Advertise

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing