Initiated in 2010, the project for the new sacred space rises from a strongly participatory process shared with the whole community: a church that does not sacrifice its symbolic and evocative dimensions, while striving to be recognizable and inclusive. Taking a cue from the archetypal image of a church, the design seeks an architecture devoid of piety, to loyally reflect the essence yet be immediately readable: sober, solemn, but not monumental. It echoes the mysticism of everyday life.

The wall casing is light in color, evoking the marble of classical architecture, but is free of the powerful material element that detracts from a church’s modest geometries, turning it into a precious exception within its context. The perimeter of the new church is defined by walls that bend and slide off each other, evolving into large half-open doors that signal two points of access to the main hall, in addition to the main entrance.

A continuous crack from heaven to earth and running along the entire roof, cuts and splits the building's shell, revealing the presence of the sky. This symbolic gash in the veil of the temple, is intimately connected to the naming of the new Church of the Penitent Thief and to the redemption message that it seeks to convey.

The architectural, liturgical, and artistic components of the project have been carefully considered and deeply analysed as intimately connected facets, and as faces of a single body. The main liturgical spaces have been organized along the perimeter, built in wall niches: the baptistery next to the entrance, the weekday chapel beside the altar and mirroring it, a cozy area dedicated to the choir.