Having outgrown their original facility, the congregation desired a facility which would honor their long history in downtown Franklin while providing a vision for future generations. The classically inspired design organizes a series of interior gathering spaces which emphasize a sense of unity. A sense of the sacred is created by the barrel vaulted nave spanning over a radially organized seating configuration. The chancel’s laterally positioned lancet windows and new rose window recall the history of the gathered church, augmenting the relocated historic stained glass windows now seen in the new transept. Educational and administrative facilities are equipped with linked state of the art media and communication resources, further enhancing the investment in the church’s future generations.

Located in a historic neighborhood a short walk from UVA’s grounds, the Hillel Jewish Student Center needed to add space for new and expanded programs while being sensitive to its surroundings. brwarchitects fit the addition comfortably to the scale of the surrounding residential neighborhood while articulating its own distinctive character. Design cues for both scale, proportion, and material were taken from the existing 20th century residence. Mediating the existing and new buildings is the multi-purpose dining hall detailed with walls of glass and dark steel allowing the two more traditional volumes to reinforce the scale of the historic neighborhood.

In 1845, the sanctuary was built to be a long-lasting example of a House of God. More humble, the 1920s Parish house rests in a delicate balance with the stone sanctuary and the rural landscape. brwarchitects designed a new Parish Hall to blend seamlessly with the original house, in detail and construction, while simultaneously being unseen from the sanctuary. The original Parish house library is transformed into a generous lobby, adjoining the new timber-framed Parish Hall.

Bridging between two buildings of different vintage and architectural styles, the new parish hall for St. Francis of Assissi needed to remain understated and subtly detailed. With boundaries defined by the adjoining buildings’ exterior walls, the new parish hall creates an interstitial space where the entire parish can gather. One sees stone buttresses of the 1895 sanctuary recalled in the rhythmic glass and steel of the “gothic” trellis. These buildings define a new courtyard piazza as the centerpiece of extensive landscape and facility improvements throughout the church’s urban campus, unifying the campus, relegating the cars to the periphery and reinforcing the ‘civic’ place where the church gathers.

The Center for Christian Study, set in a residential area adjacent to the grounds of the University of Virginia, needed to expand its facilities. The Center needed to accommodate meeting space for 125, a library, reading room, research stations, new offices, and residential facilities for interns. Site constraints required that any new construction occur to the rear of the existing building. The relationship between the addition and the existing context was of paramount importance. The massing and symmetry of the original house is mirrored in the addition, separated by a painted wood and glass connector that is differentiated from both masses. An exterior staircase, enclosed by horizontal cedar matching the existing house allows direct access to the addition from the street. The stairway marks the addition with a metaphorical lighthouse as entry to the study and reading room.

Congregation Beth Israel, in Charlottesville, Virginia added new educational and worship facilities to their existing 19th century building, the tenth oldest synagogue in the country. These new facilities increased the floor area three-fold. Recognizing the need to respect the existing structures and urban context, the design creates a ‘village’ of smaller structures. A modern steel and glass lattice bridges between the new and existing construction, allowing the social hall to have a dramatic view of the surrounding urban landscape– a reminder of the community within which they live and worship.