Parish Church in Pueblo Serena / Moneo Brock

The Parish Church in Pueblo Serena designed by Moneo Brock derives from traditional church plans. The design presents recognizable architectural features taken from early Christian temple prototypes.

Parish Church in Pueblo Serena technical information

Architects : Belén Moneo, Jeffrey Brock
Typology : Religious Architecture / Church
Location: Carretera Federal 500, Monterrey México
Completion year: 2015
Client: Plaza Serena (Real Estate in Huajuco Canon)
Building size: 17,222 sqft
Design Team: Irene Alberdi, Andrés Barrón, Fabrice Leray, Jaime Salvador, Sara Pericacho, Irene Hernádez, Juan Galloso
Images: © Jorge Taboada

Parish Church in Pueblo Serena Photographs

Parish Church in Pueblo Serena Description by the Architects

The church is located on a large Plaza to the southeast of the development. This communal outdoor space can function as an annex to the church, with religious celebrations and rites spilling out of doors and a larger populace engaged. The main entry therefore opens right onto the plaza, and with an unobstructed width of 11.5 meters it allows the complete opening of the interior space of the church to the plaza. Above this door the façade is a large flat wall without fenestration or ornament, an emphatic and nearly square plane, declarative of the otherness of the space behind that plane: the sacred space of the church interior.

The volumetric concept of the church derives from traditional church plans, and the design presents recognizable architectural features taken from early Christian temple prototypes. Nonetheless, the design is undoubtedly modern. The composition is meant to be both recognizable and new.

The plan is that of a basilica, with a rectangular central nave some 15 meters high, its long axis oriented towards the altar. There are multiple sources of natural light in the interior. Behind the baptistery a long glass wall runs the length of the nave giving views of an enclosed patio.  Above this area is a version of a rose window, a nine-square grid opening to the west with colored glass. To the southeast, three small chapels each enjoy daylight from high skylights.  Finally, above the altar is a forth high skylight, whose light washes down behind an inclined panel cut into four section to reveal a large cross, the cross glowing with the light from above.