The design focus for this 12,000 square foot space was a rein­ter­pre­ta­tion of the sanc­tu­ary due to the decreas­ing size and the chang­ing needs and activ­i­ties of the con­gre­ga­tion. Flex­i­bil­i­ty and con­vert­ibil­i­ty became sig­nif­i­cant design features.

The high­er, slop­ing rear of the exist­ing, 45-year-old audi­to­ri­um-style sanc­tu­ary space was con­vert­ed into a raised plat­form that forms the nucle­us of the tem­ple. The plat­form is sur­round­ed by translu­cent pan­els hung between poles that sup­port a ceil­ing canopy above. When drawn, the pan­els enclose an inti­mate sanc­tu­ary filled with mov­able seats, lecterns, and rit­u­al objects that can be grouped in infi­nite con­fig­u­ra­tions. When open, the pan­els flank the plat­form for its use as a stage for social events or for rit­u­als dur­ing spe­cial services.

The form of the new sanc­tu­ary-with­in-sanc­tu­ary is based on the trans­formable nature of the tent. Its com­po­nents are light and translu­cent. Ceil­ing struc­tures and their sup­ports float above and beyond the plat­form. Tra­di­tion­al mate­ri­als and new forms com­bine with exist­ing art­work to rein­force the sig­nif­i­cance of the temple.

Client: Emanuel Con­gre­ga­tion
Pro­gram: Sanc­tu­ary ren­o­va­tion
Size: 12,000 sqft
Cost: $700,000

Select­ed Awards/​Honors
2003 Divine Detail Award, Amer­i­can Insti­tute of Archi­tects Chica­go. 
2002 Inte­ri­or Archi­tec­ture Award Amer­i­can Insti­tute of Archi­tects Chicago.

Project Fea­tures
Fab­ric Archi­tec­ture Mag­a­zine — Ren­o­vate With Fab­ric
Chica­go Tri­bune — Reform temple’s mod­ern design root­ed in his­to­ry 
Archi­tec­ture for the Gods Book II by Michael J. Crosbie