I would go with that:

the south face of the building/church etc.

I would not use front - the building has only one front (and one back).

facade is okay, but I think face is marginally better

see collins robert dictionary

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Note added at 2003-03-18 14:16:57 (GMT)
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or southern

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The common English usage of "façade" :

"The face or front of a building towards a street or other open place, esp. the principal front."

differs somewhat from the French --and particularly the technical French-- usage.

*Sometimes*, in French art historical parlence, "façade" refers to the whole "side" of a building/church, but more properly it only refers to that part of the "side" which is built up in a very fancy way, almost always to house a doorway.

Thus, a typical large church with transepts will have three facades (principle on on the West; two smaller ones on the North and South). In French, it is perfectly acceptable to refer to all three of these as "façades"; while English usage would be inclined to use the word only for the West (principle) "façade", refering to the others as, say, "South transept façade," etc.

Here's the South transept façade of Chartres cathedral :

http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/orion/eng/hst/gothic/chartre...

which doesn't include the whole of the South "side" of the building.

And, yes, I'd say keep the cédille, even though the OED doesn't use it, since it is a thoroughly French word and the cédille sets it off as such, without making it difficult to understand.

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Note added at 2003-03-18 16:48:12 (GMT) Post-grading
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I meant to add that the \"56 modilions\" mentioned here would seem to indicate that what is intended here is not the whole \"side\" of the building but rather just the most \"decorated\" part of it, which is the façade alone.

is the GB term used in architecture and building survey.

I do a lot of work for a group of British surveyors in France, and this is the term they always use. In USA English one might say the southern wall.

When talking of church architecture, we very commonly talk about the 'south / west etc. front'