In the tradition of temple construction
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Niall McLaughlin Architects just unveiled the gorgeous Bishop Edward King Chapel, which features a stone facade and sweeping interior archways made from sustainable timber. Located outside of Oxford, England, the elegant chapel is capped with a timber roof and it blends harmoniously with the surrounding architecture and forested landscape.
Niall McLaughlin Architects used sand-colored stone to create the crisscrossing pattern on the facade of the Bishop Edward King Chapel. The facade emulates the hue of the trees surrounding the property and coincides with the historic limestone featured in other buildings on the campus. The chapel is mostly day-lit thanks to a row of windows that span the wooden roof enclosure, and the perimeter of the chapel is shaped like an ellipse.
Timber dominates the interior of the church – particularly in the form of beautiful arches that stretch to the ceiling, drawing a comparison with the trees outside. The tree-like arches delineate an ambulatory in the middle of the chapel with a latticework of wood, creating an intimate space around the altar in the center. The columns, which break off into three branches each, cast shadows throughout the day as daylight filters in from the elevated windows. Niall McLaughlin Architects’ design was chosen in a RIBA competition to design a new chapel for the site.
Niall McLaughlin Architects