Overview

Description: In 2012 APS were commissioned to design a substantial Chapel extension to add on to, and compliment the existing stone and thatched Chapel. This was to be done as part of a greater masterplan for Peterhouse Girls School to effectively double the number of pupils at the school from 250 to 500.

Challenge: In consultation with the headmaster, our challenge was to find a way of effectively building a brand new chapel, by incorporating the older smaller structure within. The new building was to be modern in appearance but acknowledge the traditional materials of the former. By virtue of its location in the middle of the school, the new Chapel had to be accessible both from the dormitories to the north as well as from the classrooms to the south.

Solution: We envisioned the new Chapel as a visual and moral beacon to the students and staff, and designed the new roof structure as the tallest and most distinct structure on the campus. The design elements of the nave, and the buttressing walkways refers to architectural language of gothic cathedrals, but as a modern re-interpretation. The smaller walled structure of the existing building was incorporated into the entry and reception areas, with gallery seating above, whilst the new chapel extension stretches down a natural slope providing stepped seating to the west. Clere-storey windows and alternate (glazed - stone) wall fins provide focused views for the congregation, whilst allowing ample light to flood into the belly of the Chapel. The main element however is the silhouetted cross of the Saviour, offset against the 12m high window beyond the pulpit and choir stands. Locally quarried stone is used liberally throughout, whilst materials like re-enforced concrete, steel and glass are used as necessary to facilitate the large structural openings, and broad spans required. Within the nave of the Chapel, broad glu-laminated arches criss-cross each other in a herringbone fashion, springing from buttressed stone fins and sweeping across the 12m high ceiling provoking an amplified feeling of space, light and spirit.