Religious: Church
Immanuel Lutheran Church
Completed Project: Watertown (Lebanon), WI
Immanuel Lutheran Church of Lebanon is located just outside of Watertown, WI. This church was originally built in 1925 and has a congregation that has been around for approximately 175 years. They partnered with MSI General when work needed to be done that would require removing and replacing a broken vertical lift along with providing a new elevator to allow accessibility to the entire church. When this 94-year old church was in need of repairs and an addition, maintaining the integrity of the current building’s façade was crucial. In order to avoid disturbing the original beauty of the church’s existing exterior, matching the brick became one of the most integral processes of the entire project. Numerous brick mock-ups were done to get the correct blend of bricks to match the existing façade as close as possible. Several different styles of bricks were needed in both the upper and lower portions of the church to match the existing brick color, detail, and masonry. The large window included in the addition also ties in closely with the existing building. The arched framework and brick detailing were carefully designed to seamlessly fit within the same styling as the original building. No steel lintels were used in the construction of the arches but instead set in the traditional way. Cream colored cast stone were utilized for the window sills, caps, and other decorative features. As one of the added details, designers used the dark and light-colored bricks to form a small cross which was then framed out with the contrasting light cream cast stone to form a unique diamond element.