Client: Pitt County Memorial Hospital

Overview

The new interfaith chapel at Pitt Memorial Hospital provides an integration of indoor and outdoor spaces aimed at a meditative respite from the busy hospital environment. The project does this through the interpretation of nature at its most basic elements: natural light, water, and sky.

Goals

The chapel addition sits adjacent to Pitt County Memorial Hospital’s main entrance on a 70’ x 225’ parcel bounded by parking and a service drive on three sides and a five story patient tower on the fourth. The program includes a formal chapel space for up to 150 occupants, two small meditation rooms for private reflection, office and sacristy space for hospital spiritual staff and related support spaces. In response to the constraints of the site, a linear bar-building was placed parallel to the length of the patient tower and tight to the boundary of the service drive. An interior courtyard is defined by the spaces between the two structures. The linear volume of the addition is bisected by the primary circulation from the hospital, which separates the sacred spaces to the south from the utilitarian spaces to the north. A non-denominational solution was achieved by focusing on nature as a theme. Water, earth and sky form the main focus of the chapel space.

Process

Slate floors, maple ceilings and furniture, and maple candle alters establish the material palette in the chapel and meditation rooms. The long wall adjacent to the parking area includes six vertical windows made of translucent confetti glass from a commissioned glass artisan. These art glass windows modulate and enhance natural light entering the space as well as obscure views. The view through a floor to ceiling glass wall at the head of the room features a specimen tree as the focal point with a reflection pool in the foreground and the sky in the background. High courtyard walls screen undesired views of the surrounding area. The courtyard space between the existing building and addition coupled with the space adjacent to the pool and tree form a sculpture and contemplation garden. Exterior finishes were specified to blend with the white stucco of existing structure. A curved, copper-clad wall stands as a landmark against this monotone canvas and extends the natural materials theme to the public face.

Additional Information

The predominant exterior material is a 3-coat stucco system in white to match the adjacent patient tower. Metal panels in an aged copper finish highlight the curved wall that fronts the surrounding parking lot. Custom-designed art glass and curtainwall with high performance glazing accentuate the views and natural light within the chapel. The interior materials palette is a muted blend of slate flooring, maple ceilings and altars, and recycled carpet tile. Building systems include a structural steel frame, metal stud framing, and a forced air mechanical system.