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2023 AIA Saint Louis Design Honor Award: Craft
2022 Natural Stone Institute Tucker Design Award
2021 AIA Central States Design Merit Award: Architecture
2021 AIA Saint Louis Design Honor Award: Architecture
2021 Fay Jones Alumni Design Honor Award: Arch
2018 AIA Saint Louis Design Merit Award: Unbuilt
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Location:
Clayton, Missouri
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Photography:
Sam Fentress
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Status:
Time Capsule Ceremony - 23 August 2020
Groundbreaking Ceremony - 19 August 2018
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UNIFIED SYNAGOGUE
Kol Rinah is a recently unified Jewish faith congregation, joining two legacy congregations on a newly acquired property that previously served as a Baptist Church near the center of a growing business district in St. Louis, Missouri. A new limestone addition containing Sanctuary and Entry is carefully linked to a fully renovated 1950’s-era Church and School Building to become the new home of Kol Rinah. The architecture and landscape strive to create a dynamic environment for this diverse and inclusive community, serving three primary functions: Gathering, Learning, and Prayer.
SEQUENCE & LIGHT
The stone mass of the addition is quiet, seeking beauty and eloquence with an economy of means. A new entry sequence and arrival space serves as a clearly defined, singular entrance for the entire Synagogue. Approaching on a fully accessible and graceful incline, visitors of all ages and abilities meander through a lush, fragrant garden of native plantings designed to control stormwater runoff. The light-filled entrance graciously welcomes visitors throughout the day, transforming into a beacon in the evening to invite entry and enliven the surrounding streetscape.
SACRED SPACE
The sanctuary is a solid vessel containing an unexpected, double-height volume for worship and prayer. This sacred space is lined with white oak, bathed in diffuse light pouring in from a clerestory window high above the sanctuary floor. Ambient illumination from above is in dialogue with a sharper, direct light from the west entering through a thin vertical cleft in the south facade. This warmer light illuminates the east-facing Ark Wall from a concealed source, harnessing the symbolic and transcendent dimension of natural light while providing a dramatic backdrop for the Bimah. In conjunction with a sculpted ceiling and absorptive treatments, the angled wall also serves as an acoustic device, helping tune the space for speech and vocal music. Acoustics, material, and light are carefully composed to create a warm, tranquil space inspiring contemplation and spirituality.
NATURAL STONE
The limestone cladding of the addition responds to the trim of the existing buildings on site, as well as several adjacent stone structures. The stone is regionally sourced from the Flint Hills in Kansas, 380 miles from the site. The limestone’s warmth, variation, and natural occlusions reveal its geologic formation and embedded history of place. Lighter toned 2-FT by 6-FT panels are set in contrast to darker toned 6-IN by 6-FT panels. The tooled mortar joints ease the surface, exhibiting the hand of the mason. Natural stone helps connect the Synagogue to its place, providing an expression of civic presence and permanence for Kol Rinah.
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Collaborators:
McClure Engineering (MEPFT)
Alper Audi Associates (Structural)
Civil Design, Inc (Civil)
Ten x Ten (Landscape)
Kirkegaard Associates (Acoustics)
Dennis G. Glore, Inc (Kitchen)
Troco Custom Fabricators
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Special Thanks:
Paul Naecker
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