Vietnamese Martyrs Parish
Supporters of the Vietnamese Martyrs Parish (many who fled oppression after the war in Vietnam and were penniless when they resettled in Puget Sound region) spent years raising over half of the development cost to see their collective dream of expanding the church come to fruition. Situated on an outstretched peninsula in Tukwila, the church serves over 2,000 local Vietnamese Catholic families, has a Vietnamese language school, holds daily mass (and weekly service in both English and Vietnamese), and creates cultural festivals and multi-generational activities. This project includes demolishing more than half of the existing church and building a new two-story addition. Inspired by the famous Norte Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon, this new parish has many elements of a typical Gothic-style church: tall twin bell towers, large center dome, grand entrance stairs, arches windows, large center nave area leading to the sanctuary area, and soaring ceilings. Since the church is surrounded on three sides by the Green River and soil conditions are saturated and unstable, we implemented a grade beam system supported by a deep steel pile foundation.