Cannon Design Wins Award for University Oratory

AVE MARIA, Fla. — Cannon Design received the Merit Award from the 2008 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel competition for its design of The Parish of the Ave Maria Oratory at Ave Maria University.


The competition is sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction Inc. and offers awards to design teams who have used steel in an innovative way in a structure. Winners were chosen based on the accomplishment of the building’s program, expression of architectural intent, application of innovative design approaches to the structural system and utilization of productivity-enhancing construction methods.


Cannon design won the award in the $15 million to $75 million category, and the National Award Winner in the category was the National Museum of the Marine Corps. in Quantico, Va. Ave Maria University was the only educational facility to win an award in the competition.


With its intricate use of steel, the Oratory stands 120 feet tall, seats up to 1,100 people and has a design based on a traditional basilica form that was built with modern methods and materials such as glass, steel and stone.


The interior of the 30,000-square-foot oratory features a woven steel design that judges described as “a lace-like structure, in a gothic revival of steel.”


Through the narthex, the height of the nave is compressed by the choir mezzanine above. Natural light was utilized in the design to draw the eye to steel lattice.