CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help sits on a prominent hillcrest in Rapid City, SD. Wyss Associates, Inc. was part of the Uda Architecture design team to renovate the church with a 12,000 square foot addition on the south façade which adds a new parish hall which includes classrooms, meeting spaces and a renovation to the kitchen. The structure had many drainage problems in the past due to drainage issues and poor soils. The planting palette had to be composed of all drought-tolerant plantings as no irrigation was permitted along the foundation of the structure. We implemented boulders in the landscape and locally sourced river cobbles in the site design.

Our design expanded the turf area on the east side of the church for large outdoor gatherings and community engagement activities. The driving factors of the plan included improved accessibility and safety, the physical campus beautification and unification, and facility modernization.

Trees were introduced into the parking lot islands to soften the expanse of the parking lot and to reduce the heat island effect. The project was completed in 2024.