This 27,000 sf education building seeks to integrate into the existing Palm Desert Community Presbyterian Church campus by mediating between the 1968 concrete and glu-lam sanctuary and the Santa Rosa Mountains. To this end, concrete block was used to establish both color and form for the building. Alternating depths and finishes of the block create a heavily rusticated base onto which the classroom and auditorium spaces are positioned. These volumes, arranged around a central corridor, push to the edge for light and pull away to create elevated planters. The roof lines lift towards the North to provide additional light and views for the classroom spaces. Within a constrained site, the project doubled the church’s total square footage and provided 25 new parking spaces.