ST. PIUS CHAPEL AND PRAYER GARDEN | New Orleans, Louisana, USA | 2014

Architects: Eskew+Dumez+Ripple
Client: Andre Villere Archdiocese of New Orleans
Contractor: Voelkel McWilliams Construction
Photographers: Will Crocker Photography

Designed as a quiet refuge and intimate sanctuary for sacred reflection, the new adoration chapel on the St Pius campus is a subtle sculptural addition to the landscape.

In meetings prior to the start of design, congregants were clear that the new chapel should complement the modernist character of the adjacent 1960s church and its striking, monumentally-scaled copper roof, which rises in orchestrated planes from ground level to more than 75 feet above the church floor.

Since the chapel site was in such close proximity to the church, it was critical that the two structures share a common architectural vocabulary.

The new chapel is a delicately-placed, quiet counterpoint to the size and scale of the adjacent church, but its shape and form share similar characteristics, most notably in the angular rigidity of the chapel’s roof and walls. 

The resulting massing and the use of wall-length windows cement the chapel’s relationship to the church in both form and context.

The sculpted form is carefully carved away on two sides and at the roof, allowing the inclusion of glazing elements from above, adjacent to and behind the new sanctuary.

The careful orientation and modulation of this glazing creates distinct changes in the pattern of natural light throughout the day and creates a unique ambience for reflection and contemplation.

The configuration of the floor plan allows the visitor to enter into a small vestibule separated from the chapel by a slatted wood screen wall that affords privacy but also allows one to see worshippers occupying the space.

The interior design features are intentionally minimal.

The space’s power and purpose is enhanced by its very simplicity; the sculpting of the building massing extends to the interiors, and is visually understood as a carved-away, light-filled volume which constantly changes during the course of the day.

Even the Christian cross, adjacent to the tabernacle, is expressed through the careful carving and folding of white planes accentuated by grazing light.

Since the space is used as a perpetual adoration chapel, all visual focus is placed on the custom wood tabernacle and monstrance containing the Holy Eucharist, allowing occupants the opportunity to worship in quiet solitude.