Blackwell Church Among Architect Magazine Design Selections

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Saint Nicolas Eastern Orthodox Church, designed by Marlon Blackwell Architect, earned a citation in Architect magazine's second Annual Design Review selections.

A design by Marlon Blackwell’s Fayetteville firm, Marlon Blackwell Architect, was included in Architect magazine’s second Annual Design Review selections. A five-member jury evaluated nearly 300 entries, selecting 24 projects across six categories — work, play, bond, live, grow and move. His design of Saint Nicolas Eastern Orthodox Church in Springdale earned a citation in the bond category. Jurors noted the project for its transformative quality.

Blackwell, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, is a distinguished professor and head of the architecture department at the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

For the church design, Blackwell remade a generic shop building into a place of worship and fellowship. The skylit tower pours red light down into the transition between the narthex and the sanctuary, giving a moment of pause before entering to worship. A narrow cross is suspended on the western side of the tower, backlit by the morning sun to become a beacon for arriving parishioners. The exterior skin is a box rib metal panel, common in local industrial buildings, while the interior finishes are kept simple.

In addition, the church design won Blackwell an Honor Award from the Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He received four design awards during ceremony at the annual AIA Arkansas State Convention, held Oct. 21-23 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.