Oakerhater Episcopal Center

Project Type: Religious Institution

Size: 5,713 square feet

Client: Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma

The master plan and building design for the Watonga, Oklahoma-based Center evolved through a highly collaborative process. The design manifests unique opportunities for spiritual space and cultural expression born of a western theology and Cheyenne-Arapaho spirituality.

The establishment of the Oakerhater Episcopal Center, anchored by the Whirlwind Mission of the Holy Family, allows the work of the Episcopal Church to continue its historical, cultural, and spiritual mission in western Oklahoma.

Architectural cues from local tectonic traditions and climate are formed using sustainable structural systems and materials. The Center is now a beloved backdrop to dances, celebrations and community-oriented service programs.

The Oakerhater Episcopal Center is an offering to its community. In its unique setting, the design takes on the role of mediator. It facilitates an understanding that much can be learned from another's culture, history, spirituality, and sense of place. It resists the erosive forces of its hostile western Oklahoma Plains while defining a hopeful place with calculated permanence. It embodies the values of the many people sharing one place.

*Completed as Butzer Gardner Architects