FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE

This meeting house seeks to embrace simplicity and silence within a carefully articulated plan, while incorporating congregational life and worship in a modern way, bridged by a connective core. Upon arriving through a recessed entry; patrons are greeted by a low ceiling height made to expand one's vision toward the garden outside, while also serving as a separation between noise and silence, congregational life and worship - a brief pause. The building is planned sharply acute; spaces that change as patrons move past and through the building. 

Congregational Life

The largest of 3 volumes ... Right off the lobby/welcome center are a series of spaces organized around congregational gathering and income-based rental opportunities: 1) a kitchen and pantry that accommodates congregation and rental use, 2) a library that offers continued knowledge and quiet reading time, 3) a fellowship hall and overflow space for youth, and 4) a patio area allowing for indoor/outdoor activities. Near the fellowship hall are 2 rooms that can double and serve as office/counsel space when not being utilized as classrooms. A restroom bank is behind the kitchen separated by a corridor, as well as the necessary custodial and mechanical room. Natural light is a feature from front to back, and is also received from the roof lite within the cathedral ceiling, which can also decrease the constant reliance on artificial lighting. 

Worship

The meeting hall itself is an acute rectangle with a low-cathedral ceiling. Within one facet of the ceiling is a roof lite that houses frosted glazing allowing for soft and diffuse light. The multi-faceted ceiling application of white paint yields a spectrum of colors as soft light moves about the room. Carpet tiles on the floor, paired with vertical wood planks over acoustic panels that line the walls, lend a sense of warmth, tranquility, and history. One side of the room admits additional light that washes the wood planks along the walls and permits observation out to the garden and patio, as insulated operable panels allow for complete opening to and from the space during events. While a meeting house traditionally gathers people facing each other to emphasize the spirit of the group, and the belief being that every member is of equal status; it can be arranged per the needs of the event held within the space. 

Aesthetic

As simplistic as the design could be ... The meeting house is purposefully covered from roof to base in composite wood shakes, referencing historic shake buildings of the U.K. and early English-American architecture. The front is branded with a "Quaker Star" in the color of red, that sits on an elevated composite wood shake base. The FRIENDS Emblem incorporates an eight-pointed star, known as the "Quaker Star", with a scriptural quotation central to Quaker beliefs, “A light that shines in the dark.” The red and black Quaker star dates back to work performed by English Friends during the Franco-Prussian War of 1872. It has long been associated with Quaker relief service worldwide. The scriptural passage comes from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, fifth verse. It refers to the light of God, which shines in all humanity. 

The building incorporates aluminum-framed glazing throughout, with all frames in the color of black referencing the "Quaker Star", yet also adds to its contemporary appeal. The back patio covering incorporates a structural steel frame - also in black - while also incorporating composite wood slats above to shield full sun, and composite wooden columns in the shape of the Quaker Star. The roof forms stem from historic buildings of the U.K. and early American colonies - referencing the Gambrel, Mansard, and Gable roof types.