All Saints church is located on a prominent site in the countryside near Covington, Kentucky. The design seeks to offer a vision of the sacred to those living and working in the area. The major approaches to the church offer views of its curved apse or its layered façade giving the domus Ecclesiae great prominence. A small piazza creates a focus and gathering space for the church, as well as for the existing school and rectory. Parking is in areas proximate to the church as well as along a new street with an allee of trees designed for processions. The composition of the exterior and interior elevations references the classicism of the southern United States, as well as the architecture of the Catholic architectural tradition in general. The construction is a brick and limestone facing over concrete block and a steel frame.
The front façade is articulated as a gate to heaven, and gives intimations of the composition of the holy place within. Carved limestone bas-reliefs over the doorways symbolize the sacramental life of the Church and her saints. A stained glass window of the Assumption is placed over the entry and the coat of arms of the Diocese is placed in the tympanum. The façade is crowned by a glorified cross. The main entrance into the narthex allows communication to a vesting sacristy, stairs and bathrooms. The interior of the nave is articulated with paired pilasters and arches, a simple entablature and a plaster barrel vault. Large thermal windows bring light in from above. The font is given honor by being placed within its own space, near the entrance so as to symbolize entry into Mother Church through the sacrament.
The spacious nave is 58' wide and 50' tall with seating for 600 people. A generous choir loft allows for choirs of up to 50 people plus instruments. A small transept helps to articulate a spacious sanctuary and devotional shrines to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the Sacred Heart. Within the sanctuary the marble altar is central with a tent-like baldacchino overhead. The baldacchino symbolizes the epiclesis of the Mass and has within its soffit an image of the Holy Spirit. The ambo is also paneled and can be accessed from either the sanctuary or the nave. It is balanced by the presider’s chair and images of Saints Peter and Paul are placed overhead. Within the apse there is a screen of pilasters and a paneled wall with a crucifix surmounting the entablature. The tabernacle is placed at the center of the wall and can be accessed from the sanctuary or the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in the rear. The main sacristy is to the left of the sanctuary while a secondary foyer to the right has exterior doors allowing for prayer and eucharistic adoration to occur in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel when the church is closed. Since the church is dedicated to All Saints both the exterior and the interior of the building have images of the “cloud of witnesses,” especially those from modern times, which surround the faithful and help them in their worship.
