Erik Bootsma Architecture

Erik Bootsma Architecture http://www.bootsmadesign.com

Catholic Architecture and Liturgical Design http://www.bootsma.com

Catholic Architecture and Liturgical Design

By definition, a Church should be a community, a place where believers come together to worship and serve each other in ...
03/26/2026

By definition, a Church should be a community, a place where believers come together to worship and serve each other in service and prayer. But for so many churches, the idea of community exists for the two hours between when people leave their car in the parking lot, and when they skip out after communion to beat traffic on the way out of the parking lot.

How we build churches has a lot to do with this, since we build churches far away from neighborhoods, looking for huge lots where we can surround them with seas of parking lots.

But what would happen if we started looking at church properties as a place to build a REAL community rather than just a place for ample parking? What if instead of making church a part-time activity on Sunday, we started making parishes into a place to live out the faith every single day of the week?

This is the idea behind the vision for the New Parish Village Plan. This proposal shows how a suburban parish can be transformed into a living and breathing community where parishioners could live within walking distance of each other and start to create a real parish community.

Drawing from examples of small villages in Europe and the Eastern United States, the plan centers the church standing at its heart. Surrounded by a variety of housing types, from large houses to small apartments, every member of the parish could find a home nearby, and with public space to gather and a small retail center for a café, coffee shop, or office space, the parish could be alive every day of the week, not just Sunday.

To find out more about how you can transform your parish, visit us at:

https://bootsma.com/contact/

One of the biggest problems that institutions like churches, schools or universities face when starting a building proje...
03/12/2026

One of the biggest problems that institutions like churches, schools or universities face when starting a building project is indecision. Usually, the biggest question they can’t answer is “where should this building go?”

This is because institutions lack one thing:

A Vision.

Usually, for each building an institution builds, a new architect is hired for the job. The architects do their job and go through listening sessions, programming analysis and design iterations showing how their building achieves all the objectives the institution has laid out.

But somehow, even from the beginning, no matter where it is put, the new building doesn’t quite fit, and it causes just as many problems as it solves. The new building might not subtract from the campus, but somehow it doesn’t add to it either. This is because building in this piecemeal way is the one critical thing missing is the vision.

What institutions need is to put this vision into tangible form: a master plan.

A master plan provides this vision for how a campus can expand and grow, to add new buildings over a long period of time, so that when a new building project is started, the institution already knows where this project fits into the larger plan.

This is because with a master plan in hand, the location, purpose and symbolism of every building is by design. Every part of a campus, every building, path, parking lot, etc. has been examined and designed to work individually but also designed to work as part of a cohesive whole.

Not only is the function understood, but the symbolism of every part is thought out as well. So, for instance, if a college has faith as the core of its mission, where the chapel will be built should be a part of a master plan. Without a master plan, the architects might have built a dorm where it should have been and lost the opportunity to symbolize the principles that they hold dear.

Institutions like churches, schools and colleges should always have a master plan so that when they are ready to build, they aren’t crippled by indecision or worse, by mistakes that can diminish the functional use or symbolic weight of their campus.

To learn more about master planning, and how your institution could benefit from a master plan, do reach out to us at Bootsma.com/contact

Architecture, like how one dresses, should show good manners and most importantly decorum. Decorum means you respect the...
02/23/2026

Architecture, like how one dresses, should show good manners and most importantly decorum.

Decorum means you respect the setting. You can build just like you can dress with your own style and with your own personality, but it must be done within reason.

While it would be absurd to dress in a tuxedo to a barbeque, it would be downright rude to dress for a formal ball in jeans and a t-shirt.

Outlandish styles try to shock, to stick out and disrespect those around them by drawing all attention to themselves.

But good manners, decorum, means dressing ourselves and our buildings appropriately. Good architecture always balances having personality with good manners and decorum.

The architecture of what we build needs to say as much about being a good neighbor as how we conduct ourselves to our neighbors.

We designed these townhouses for the Museum District of Richmond to have manners and decorum.

These townhouses expand the housing stock of the neighborhood, and raise the skyline by a story, but the architecture respects the character of the neighborhood.

Good architecture extends but does not destroy what makes our neighborhoods beloved and worth preserving.

Good architecture is always a good neighbor.

In collaboration with Tim Hayes - Serliana Architecture

The architecture of a place tells us more than any words can express, the deepest values and beliefs of its builders.Cla...
02/19/2026

The architecture of a place tells us more than any words can express, the deepest values and beliefs of its builders.

Classical schools should set these values in stone as the embodiment of the eternal values they seek to teach:

Classical schools should tell the world through what they have built that:

- students are not cogs in a machine
- students should be inspired, not just stored
- tradition is not dead, but living thing
- progress means preserving the best of the past, not destroying it
- truth, beauty, and goodness

Progress continues at Benedictine College on the Library Project. Our redesign of the south tower is continuing with all...
02/16/2026

Progress continues at Benedictine College on the Library Project.

Our redesign of the south tower is continuing with all of the limestone elements installed including the decorative shield (escutcheon) and small capitals framing the Palladian window.

But most exciting are the four massive Ionic capitals carved by

These capitals are 100% natural limestone, and weigh almost 1800 lbs a piece!

Amazing to see this taking shape and getting to steward the rest of this amazing design.

Erik Bootsma Architect PLLC makes no claim to exclusive authorship of this project and acknowledges this project is a joint creation by Ellison-Auxier Architects, James McCrery Architects and Erik Bootsma Architect PLLC. Each party retains responsibility and credit for their own contributions to the project. This collaboration does not constitute a partnership or joint venture.

Project Collaborators and Roles

Ellison-Auxier Architects – Architect of Record

James McCrery Architect – Primary Design Architect

Erik Bootsma Architect PLLC – Design Consultant and Design Architect

Every part of a church, from its exterior, interior, and site plan should be beautiful and symbolize the truth that God ...
02/10/2026

Every part of a church, from its exterior, interior, and site plan should be beautiful and symbolize the truth that God is here.

Our master plan for a new Catholic church, classical schools, and priory for a growing congregation in the American Southwest.

With Thomas Aquinas College – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉
02/05/2026

With Thomas Aquinas College – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

We're always told that "the medium is the message."Yet so many classical schools muddle their message with boring modern...
02/05/2026

We're always told that "the medium is the message."

Yet so many classical schools muddle their message with boring modernist architecture. Classical schools should convey what goes on inside through what is built outside.

Our design for Hozho Academy in Gallup, New Mexico was designed with that philosophy, that the architecture of a mission oriented institution must communicate clearly that mission.

A large part of my work is renovating churches to undo the mistakes of the recent past. One example I'm very proud of wa...
02/03/2026

A large part of my work is renovating churches to undo the mistakes of the recent past. One example I'm very proud of was the restoration of Holy Comforter Catholic Church in Charlottesville Virginia.

This church had been altered due to questionable theology, but we put it back.

Rather than the priest being placed at the center of focus, we returned the proper focus of a church on Jesus. Placing each element centrally emphasizes this. The altar which is Christ's body sacrificed, the crucifix depicting his death, and the Eucharist, which is his body.

Our design for a small chapel a small cloistered convent. The convent would be enclosed with access through the sacrist...
01/28/2026

Our design for a small chapel a small cloistered convent. The convent would be enclosed with access through the sacristy for the priest serving the community.

https://bootsma.com

Proposal for a new baldacchino and renovations to Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond Virginia. The baldacchino would dr...
01/22/2026

Proposal for a new baldacchino and renovations to Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond Virginia.

The baldacchino would draw focus to the altar that is lost in the large sanctuary. This unbidden proposal was done to illustrate how church architecture is intertwined with theology.

The proposal would restore the cathedra, high altar, and canopy over the ambo, along with restoring the altar rail.

The new baldacchino would match the architecture and materials of the existing.

For this proposal and other past and future church work, please visit our ecclesiastical portfolio on my website here:

bootsma.com/ecclesiastical/

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