You rarely read about so much attention being paid to high school architecture, which makes this story out of South Carolina so surprising — and hopeful:

Tom Loosbrock, a former architect who serves on the planning committee for a proposed Catholic high school to be built in Jasper County, wants to make sure the school’s design reflects its spiritual mission.

And even though planners for Pope John Paul II High School have not received final approval to build because the Archdiocese of Charleston is currently without a permanent bishop, Loosbrock scheduled a meeting this fall with Duncan Stroik, a professor of architecture at his alma mater, Notre Dame.

Stroik is considered an authority on religious architecture, and during the meeting he suggested allowing one of his students to tackle the project as a final thesis. Loosbrock said he was so thrilled by the idea that even Notre Dame football team’s loss to the University of Michigan later that day didn’t faze him.

The fifth-year architecture student chosen for the project, Robert Laney, is dedicating his final semester to working on the proposed high school’s design and will submit his final thesis before graduating in early May.

Since receiving the assignment more than a month ago, Laney said he’s researched designs for existing schools. A primary focus is making the building identifiable at first glance, the student said.

“When driving up, I want you to be able to tell by looking at it what it is,” he said.

Laney said he’s been studying monastic architecture for inspiration. In this style, smaller buildings radiate around a place of worship because a monk’s life is focused around prayer, he said.

Another style Laney said he’s reviewing is Thomas Jefferson’s quad design at the University of Virginia.

Both schemes would allow for later expansion when the school grows, he said.

A Catholic school that actually looks Catholic? What a concept.