BURIAL CRYPT FOR CISTERCIAN MONASTERY

IRVING, TEXAS | 2,600 SQFT | COMPLETED IN 2017

DALLAS AIA DESIGN AWARDS 2018

This burial crypt is an addition to an existing stone chapel which is part of a monastery for an order of Cistercian monks located in Irving, Texas. The crypt is buried in a hill between the monastery and a preparatory school for boys, established by the monks in the early 1960’s. The hill is an area high point and serves as a place of calm nature mediating between the school and the monastery.

The crypt has a quiet and minimal presence on the Chapel and is accessed from the north side aisle. A pair of artist-commissioned gates allow visual access into the crypt from the side aisle, where members of the monastic community are laid to rest. Upon the death of a monk, the casket is proceessed into the crypt from the Chapel where the monastic community offers a mass before internment.

Exposed cast in place concrete and white marble crypt fronts make up the material pallet. A linear skylight punched through the hill above offers natural light for the 10’ tall buried space.

The quiet environment reinforces the attitude of the 920 year old Cistercian order, providing a somber and respectful resting place for this community of devout monks.