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Chapel of the Apostles
Sewanee, Tenn.
Maurice Jennings + David McKee Architects
Light and geometry commingle
in a remarkable chapel
© Richard Johnson |
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For more photos click on 'photos
& drawings' above.
To see the people and products
behind this project click on 'people & products.'
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The Chapel of the Apostles at the University
of the South was completed for the School of Theology, serving
not only as a place of worship for students, but also as a
classroom where they practice rituals associated with the
Episcopal church. The main level of the chapel consists of
a narthex, sacristy, reconciliation chapel, restrooms, and
nave. Movable seating was chosen to accommodate a variety
of functions. An organ loft separates the narthex from the
nave and design work on a traditional pipe organ for this
area has begun.
The structural system consists of poured-in-place
concrete for lower level walls, main floor beams, and slab.
Main level walls are a combination of steel columns and bracing
sheathed with two layers of plywood. Bents, made up of paired
2x10s sandwiched around a 2x8 for the lower chord and paired
2x12 with central 2x10 for the upper chord, are exposed throughout
the interior space. Architectural metalwork, such as gussets
and brackets, connect individual elements of the bents and
cross-bracing between bents.
The chapel's generously glazed walls
and large ridge skylights allow an ever-changing pattern of
light and shadow to bathe the walls, floors, and structural
bents. The geometric theme announced by the entry glass subdivision
reappears in the metal entry door pulls, wood light fixtures,
furnishings, and items used in worship services. This design
approach emphasizes the relationship between the part and
the whole; the correlation between the smallest and the largest
components of a design allow a resonance that is perceptible
yet sublime.
Formal name
of Project:
Chapel of the Apostles
Location:
Sewanee, Tenn.
Owner:
University of the South
Architect:
Maurice Jennings + David McKee Architects
619 W Dickson
Fayetteville, AR 72701
501-443-4742
FAX 501-443-0637
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