Forest Glen Center Oratory, Chicago

This historic residence in Chicago’s Sauganash neighborhood was renovated and converted into the Forest Glen Center of the Corporation for Social and Educational Development, which supports programs, activities, and a network of women’s centers inspired by the Catholic Prelature of Opus Dei. Their programs help girls and women advance in their intellectual, ethical, spiritual, cultural and professional development, thus finding deeper meaning and purpose in their lives of work and service to others. The primary focus of JNKA’s services was the conversion of the home’s original living room and enclosed porch into a new oratory that features a small Narthex with arched wood entrance doors to a Sacristy, Confessionals and the Oratory with its shallow vaulted ceiling, custom-designed pews, stained-glass windows, and Sanctuary with decorative wood flooring, and a free-standing reredos with an attached altar, reliquary, and a triptych of custom paintings.

Credits

Architect: JNKA
Lighting Design: Anne Kustner Lighting Design (AKLD)
Stained-Glass Windows: Daprato Rigali Studios
Liturgical Furnishings (Reredos, Altar and Ambo): Granda