St. Elizabeth Seton is located on a 12 acre site in the City of Pleasanton, which is experiencing extensive commercial and residential development along with corresponding population growth. Aaron G. Green Associates were commissioned to prepare a Master Plan that seeks to maintain an existing pleasant park-like character by retaining as much of the open space as practical and providing generous setbacks from the property line and surrounding residential neighborhood.  The Chapel/Pastoral Office building and Main Church were the first two phases of design and construction.  The ultimate utilization of the site will allow construction of a Multi-purpose Building, Classroom Building, and a Rectory.

The Chapel and Pastoral Offices (11,692 s.f.) were designed to provide a beautiful contemporary structure that is functional, economical and provides multi-purpose use.  The building shares a skylighted garden Narthex with the Main Church, thereby uniting entrances and lobbies.  Both buildings also share similar building materials and colors, as originally planned and initiated with the first phase Chapel.  Common to both, as well, are boldly faceted asymmetrical pyramid forms in direct linear arrangement and address of one another.  They are both finished in copper panels with thick, raised battens arranged in a decorative pattern.  These forms are space volumes over the Chapel and Main Church Sanctuary, the Church’s being the largest and most dominant, befittingly.  The small Chapel’s pyramid roof is punctuated by diamond-shaped skylights, whereas the Main Church’s pyramid roof rises dramatically from grade and is peaked with a large cross.

The Chapel is designed to provide seating capacity for approximately 200 persons.  The Pastoral Offices, located in one wing reached from the central narthex provides for four clergy offices, plus clerical and ancillary functions.  In the opposite wing are meeting rooms, separated from the pastoral offices in consideration of their greater activity and noise level.  Both wings enjoy generous amounts of balanced daylighting from extensive fenestration on both south and north elevations and an upper clerestory.  The spaces are protected from direct heat gain and sunlight penetration through the use of deep overhangs.