A Prestressed Steel Space Frame

The St. John Brebeuf Roman Catholic Church, Niles, Ill., completed in early 1966, reflects the contemporary trend toward circular houses of worship. The interior layout is arranged so that the priest and altar are virtually surrounded by the parishioners. The building is 180 ft in diameter and has a 144-ft diameter flat conical dome topped by a 49-ft high tower and 26-ft high cross. Figure 1 shows a general view of the church. A uniformly distributed live load of 25 psf was used in the design. The architectural concept required that interior supporting columns be eliminated, yet the structure was required to support an imposing tower with stained glass windows.