St. James Cathedral’s renovated west entrance wins architectural award

SEATTLE — A renovated portion of St. James Cathedral has won a religious architectural award.

The cathedral’s portico received an Honor Award in Religious Architecture: Renovation as part of the 2026 Faith & Form International Awards for Religious Architecture and Art, given by Partners for Sacred Places.  

The renovations to the cathedral entrance on Terry Avenue and Marion Street included new doors, an external skylight and a new holy water stoup.

The reason for the renovation?

The portico is now the most used entrance to the cathedral. Because primary parking options shifted to the O’Dea High School lot and the Cabrini Tower garage — both closer to the cathedral’s northwest side — most people now enter the cathedral through the Terry and Marion entrance instead of the grand westside entrance.

The idea to renovate the side entrance came from St. James’ recently retired pastor, Father Michael Ryan, who said the pre-renovation space had “no grace, no beauty.”

“I always called it coming in the back door, and it felt like that,” he said. “It was dysfunctional and dark and anything but welcoming.”

Now, the space is always bright thanks to the installation of a 30-foot-tall “light monitor” over the portico’s vestibule — a column of glass, bronze and brass that brings in natural light during the day and is illuminated at night.

“When you look up … you feel like God is smiling on you, if you will,” said Father Ryan.

The new entrance doors are made of “naval brass” and feature a pattern meant to reflect the seashell symbol associated with St. James and his namesake pilgrimage, the Camino de Santiago. The door handles are wooden and designed to resemble walking sticks used by pilgrims.

Above the elongated Carrara marble holy water stoup is the sculptor-designed words from Luke 24:32, “Were not our hearts burning within us as he spoke to us along the way and opened the scriptures to us?” which is part of the Road to Emmaus story.

The newly redesigned space is “a genuinely sacred space” that “glows from the inside” now, said Maria Laughlin, St. James’ director of stewardship and development.

“Not a clean and tidy space or not an updated and refreshed space, but genuinely you're entering into a sacred space,” she said.

The portico project was designed pro bono by longtime St. James parishioners Chris and Misun Gerrick of The Gerrick Office.

Chris Gerrick said he and his wife were honored to be part of the process and were inspired by the candlelight portion of the Easter Vigil to create the light-filled portico.

“It’s much more of an impactful, dramatic entry into the cathedral rather than the back-door entry,” he said.

The project was one of 75 entries from nine countries for the Faith & Form awards.

The jury comments for the award noted that the “new northeast portico for Saint James Cathedral is an example of a small intervention that makes a profound impact on an existing religious structure.”

“The design uses lighting in diverse and subtle ways, as well as the fine detailing of new entry doors and a holy water stoup, to transform what was once merely a building access point into a warm and inviting statement of liturgical welcome to the entire First Hill neighborhood in Seattle.”

The portico was dedicated on April 6, 2025, and parishioners celebrated entering through it during the Palm Sunday procession the following week.

Its renovation was funded in part by the cathedral’s Annual Catholic Appeal rebate along with private donations. It was part of a larger $1.8 million cathedral renovation that included upgrades to the north sacristy, safety improvements to windows and doors, new stained glass in the reconciliation chapel doors and upgrades to statues, including a new St. Anthony shrine and changes to the shrine of Pope John XXIII.

St. James’ portico also received a 2025 Seattle AIA award.

While this is the cathedral’s most recent renovation, it’s likely not the last. That aligns with Father Ryan’s vision of the cathedral as “an unfinished symphony,” Laughlin said.

“St. James is a mix of old and new, and that’s part of its identity as a living, breathing cathedral,” she said.