George Ferrenz (February 18, 1904-September 30, 1989) and William Taylor (May 20, 1912-January 19, 1992) founded their firm after having worked together for several years at the Office of John Russell Pope, the firm of Shaw, Naess & Murphy, and most notably at the Kellex Corporation [1]. Kellex was a secret subsidiary formed during World War III to design the K-25 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee for the production of enriched uranium as part of the Atomic Bomb Project. The facility was the world’s largest building when completed. By October 1944, still in the midst of war, Ferrenz & Taylor, had formed their firm.

Ferrenz was born and went to school in Ohio before coming to New York. Taylor was originally from Liverpool, England, and came to the United States to attend Syracuse University on a scholarship. His obituary says he worked on the design of the National Gallery of Art’s central rotunda, one of the Office of John Russell Pope’s most well known commissions [2].

The firm of Ferrenz and Taylor however focused on hospital designs and religious structures. They were responsible for at least a dozen medical facilities in New York and New Jersey through the early 1970s. This work continued for Taylor, who moved to Bermuda at some point, designing medical sites there as well, before his death in 1992.

They also designed approximately a dozen religious structures. Unlike many of their contemporaries, they did not design for one particular Christian denomination; but rather completed projects for Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, and Community congregations. This is unusual and shows their versatility at understanding the needs of each group.

One of the firm’s earliest buildings, Packanack Community Church of , received an award for best design of a small church edifice by the Church Architects Guild of America and North American Conference of Church Architects [3]. Subsequently, they also received Queens Chamber of Commerce Awards for two projects of religious focus, St. Gabriel Episcopal Church, a historicist Gothic design in Hollis; and St. Augustine Library, the library and focal point of St. John’s University in Jamaica. The massive, four-story, 315 foot-long building uses modern construction techniques with a facade design of modern Gothic details.

Many local architects in Queens apprenticed for Ferrenz & Taylor at their peak. In later years they became Ferrenz, Taylor & Clark; and then Taylor & Clark before closing sometime in the late 20th century.