RELIGIOUS PORTFOLIO
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Perpetual
Adoration Chapel, Holy Trinity Church Read about this project in Traditional Building magazine and the book Houses of God: Religious Architecture for a New Millennium by Michael J. Crosbie |
Inspired
by ancient country churches, particularly St. Etienne in Vignory,
France, Bass designed Perpetual Adoration Chapel to look a thousand
years old. The exterior is New Hampshire granite trimmed with Indiana
limestone, and the stone buttresses absorb some of the roof load
while paying tribute to Gothic cathedrals of the past. |
| The Chapel was designed to frame a magnificent set of nine 100-year-old stained glass windows made by F.X. Zettler of Bavaria, which were salvaged from St. Matthews in Fall River and donated by the Bishop. Their pointed arches determined the overall shape of the Chapel, and this shape and proportion were carried over in the doors and trim throughout. |
| The Chapel provides a comfortable place for worshippers, many of whom are elderly or disabled. Because it is in constant, continual use for prayer and meditation, the building was designed so that all routine maintenance and cleaning can be performed either outside the Chapel or with a minimum of disruption. |
| The Altar is appropriately situated on a raised marble platform, flanked by a pair of praying angel statues, and separated from the Nave by a custom made oak Altar Rail. The custom painting of the heavens in the domed area above the Altar was created for the space. In the tradition of Greek caryatids, more angels appear where the trusses meet the wall. |
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Photos by Ken Wyner
© R.W. Bass A.I.A. Architects, Chartered, DBA Bass Architects, Chartered