Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church

Nestled on a hillside in Rancho Peñasquitos and rendered in natural earth tones and materials, the traditional Catholic forms blend with more of the contemporary Southern California vernacular creating a unique architecture, symbolizing both the church’s heritage and location in the coastal foothills of San Diego. An elevated roof element highlights the crossing of the gabled roofs and is accented by a 55’ tall copper clad dome.

The 22,163 square foot Worship Center seats 1,070 parishioners in pews. The building is the first phase of a Master Plan that ultimately includes new meeting rooms, new offices and remodeling the existing worship space into a Parish Hall (as it was originally envisioned). The majority of the site improvements, utilities, infrastructure and parking have already been completed.

The highlight of the interior of the Worship Center are the four 35’ tall steel trusses spanning 96’. These frame a wide open Nave to accommodate 13 rows of pews wrapping around an elevated Perdilla area. This allows the congregation to gather around the Table and see each other, as part of the greater Parish community. On axis with the main aisle and the Altar is a custom fabricated Reredos that is a combination of structural steel, hand carved stone and wood elements as well as stained glass. The focal point of the Reredos is the 13’ tall carved wood Corpus and sculpted Tabernacle. Behind the Reredos is the Adoration Chapel.

There are 8’ wide and 13’ tall embossed copper clad main doors. These open the worship space to the community breaking down the threshold. Upon entering, the worshiper continues to process on axis with the Baptismal Font. The Baptismal font is designed to symbolize the Living Water of Christ and the power of his Resurrection. This manifests itself in a zero edge flowing font that appears as a cube of flowing water. The inside of the font is clad with a custom glass mosaic tiles symbolizing the power and energy of Heaven. At that point, the worshiper has a grand view of the Nave and finds themselves on axis with the Altar and the Reredos beyond.