Johnson Chapel, Trinity School, New York Building, Project, Photo, News, Design, Image
Trinity School Development : Manhattan Chapel
New York Upper West Side Building, USA – design by Butler Rogers Baskett Architects
Feb 2, 2010
Trinity School Chapel Building
Butler Rogers Baskett Architects Renovate Johnson Chapel At Trinity School In New York
Address; 139 W 91st St, New York, NY 10024, United States
Contact: +1 212-873-1650
Project Wins Three Prestigious Design Awards
NEW YORK – Butler Rogers Baskett Architects (BRB) has renovated the Johnson Chapel at the Trinity School, the 300-year old college preparatory, coeducational, independent day school on New York’s Upper West Side. The 1,000 square foot chapel will support a variety of activities, including regular services, memorials, religion classes, and talks by speakers from various religious traditions.
The Johnson Chapel provides a place of repose amidst the vibrant bustle of school life. The Chapel has won a 2009 Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) Professional Design Award, an Award of Merit in New York Construction’s “Best of 2009” competition and an Interior Design “Best of Year 2009” Award in the institutional category.
BRB’s design methodology has been one of subtraction, refinement and integration. Natural light is introduced by a light slot along the north wall, reflecting diffuse warm sunlight deep into the space. This wall becomes an ever changing canvas throughout the day as a cool indirect morning light transforms to cast Mediterranean shadows at noon and later emanates a warm afternoon glow.
The light slot is mirrored on the floor with a bed of river rock and a gently bubbling stone fountain, which lend texture, shadow, sound, and detail to the crisp white backdrop. The ceiling plane floats, disengaged from perimeter walls, and is lit indirectly, creating a cloud-like effect. The design reinforces this effect by keeping the surface unencumbered by light fixtures, access panels, diffusers, smoke detectors and other systems. The cloud is punctured by a large light cone, which gathers light and spills it around the altar table.
A displacement ventilation system introduces conditioned air at very low velocity through the bed of river rock, filling the occupied portion of the room much as water fills a bathtub. The warm “used” air is extracted via the reveal at the edge of the ceiling cloud, resulting in a healthy, efficient, and extremely quiet system with no visual access to diffusers or grilles.
Doors, seating, lighting, hymnal slots and a sound system are carefully integrated into a wide ribbon of woodwork, which wraps two sides of the space. The figured Maple ribbon creates and intimacy and provides a warm counterpoint to the crisp perfection of the plasterwork.
The spare material palette includes a walnut plank floor, white river rock and several blackened steel elements designed by local artisan Kristina Kozak. Kozak collaborated with BRB in creating five hand-worked candelabra and the custom door pull. The hand hammered blackened steel crucifix, also designed by Kozak, is easily removable and can be hung on a custom armature in the sacristy.
Since its opening in January 2009, the Johnson Chapel has found unplanned uses, including meditation, yoga and pilates, and is often visited by individuals seeking a moment of pause in their day. It is a sacred place of serenity, light and balance, where people of all traditions are welcome.
About Butler Rogers Baskett
Butler Rogers Baskett (BRB) is a New York-based architectural firm specializing in the design of facilities for institutions of higher education and independent schools, professional and corporate office interiors, sports and club facilities, and specialty retail and historic preservation projects.
Johnson Chapel Project Team
Robert Vuyosevich – Partner in Charge
Mark Maljanian – Project Designer
Joseph Zappulla – Project Architect
Trinity School Chapel images / information received 020210
Location: Trinity School, New York City, USA
New York City Architecture
Contemporary New York Buildings
NYC Architecture Designs – chronological list
New York City Architecture Tours by e-architect
Another Project by Butler Rogers Baskett:
The Williams W. Higgins ’53 Aquatic Center, Milford, Connecticut, USA
2009
Canterbury School Aquatic Center
New York State Architecture Designs – Selection
41 Cooper Square
Design: Morphosis
41 Cooper Square
New Museum of Contemporary Art – Extension, SoHo
Design: SANAA architects
Museum of Contemporary Art New York
The Standard
Design: Todd Schliemann of Polshek Partnership Architects
The Standard New York
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