English-born and trained Haviland was the favored architect of Philadelphia Presbyterians having designed the now demolished First Presbyterian Church on Washington Square. He won the commission for this elegant Episcopal church as the Society Hill neighborhood was extending to the west. In an age in which precedent counted, the Greek Revival design was noted for its Ionic front modeled on the Temple of Bacchus at Teos. To the modern eye, the elaborate iron railing is as notable. The rear vestry room was intended as the base of a 230-foot tower (never built) that suggests the ongoing spatial role of the church spire in organizing the city as well as the continuing impetus for competition with other congregations.