FERN HOCKLEY-TELLES
N0483444 - Interior Architecture + Design
CHAPEL OF ST ALBERT THE GREAT
The reason for visiting this chapel, built in the University area of Edinburgh’s city center, 2012, was to experience its beautiful construction from a combination of oak-lined timber and large clay blocks clad with sandstone.
In general, a chapel or other religious building is known for creating a sacred and heavenly ambience for visitors, even evoking spiritual feelings and quiet respect from non-believers. Traditionally constructed from strong, hard but also quite cold materials such as stone, there is a sense of solidity and safety, therefore, it seemed appropriate to visit a piece of architecture that goes against tradition in its construction and materials, and compare the experience.
‘The choice of materials and building form were important factors in the design of the building, chosen to achieve the peaceful space required of a chapel, and to connect it to its natural setting’ (ArchDaily, 2013)
Simpson & Brown Architects - Edinburgh
Dispersion of Light Through Timber
Curved 'Embracing' Roof
Entrance: Spiritual Quality of Timber
I visited the chapel at around 4pm in December, so it was cold and almost dark. I had expected it to feel fairly exposed, acoustically, being located in the gardens of large townhouses and next to the Meadows, a busy student area. However, on stepping into the building I sensed an immediate quiet within the entrance and noticed the use of light and shadow between the oak slats cladding the walls, which subtly led me through to the main room. What struck me most, from sitting within the chapel, was how I really felt a sense of warmth and calm from the timber and its form. The smell of the oak was incredibly prominent, which I hadn’t expected, and this, along with the arching slats across the roof, wrapping and embracing the space, created a very natural and homely environment. Despite the thick masonry external walls, the structure was not oppressive, and in fact the density held a feeling of protection that allowed for contentment. As written in an architectural review, the ‘large clay blocks clad with sandstone, interpret the historic boundary between the townhouses and provides a solid mass and weight to the building form’ (ArchDaily, 2013), which re-emphasises the importance of primal and historically dense materials in connecting users with the setting in which they sit.
It is fair to say that I did not feel the chapel emitted the same ethereal and spiritual nature of a stone cathedral; it lacked the overwhelming sense of scale or mass, filled with huge contrasts of light and dark, of silence and rippling echoes, that is found within tall, hollowed stone. However, what it does have, much more apparent than a traditional church, is an inviting quality, and an extremely meditative, haven-like atmosphere. Furthermore, I was aware that it was the architectural materials, the natural character and earthy smell of the wood, which affectively created distance between the exterior world and myself. It seemed as though time slowed during the visit, which as Pallasmaa has affirmed is the role of great architecture: to ‘halt time, and defend the natural slowness and diversity of experience’ (Pallasmaa, 2009, p.150)