St. Thomas More Sanctuary

Miyamoto International, Inc. provided structural engineering services for the St. Thomas More Sanctuary. The parish is one of the fastest growing Catholic congregations in San Diego.

Miyamoto worked closely with the architect, supporting the modern artistic vision of this unique and challenging design. The Sanctuary incorporates many large windows, creating an inward flooding of light appropriate for this community gathering space. The windows pose challenges such as determining alternate locations for support beams and other crucial structural elements. Sustainable elements were considered in the design using a plenum under the floor for air circulation and ventilation and finding design solutions to minimize the exposure to the western sun. Both aided in keeping energy costs low.