EPSTEIN CHAPEL AT TEMPLE SHALOM

DALLAS, TEXAS | 4,000 SQFT | COMPLETED IN 1991

AIA DALLAS CITATION AWARD 1992

IES MERIT AWARD 1991

The chapel orients the community to the east, towards the meditative garden courtyard that it creates with the temple and the connecting gallery walkway. The bemah platform is on axis with the sanctuary of the temple and is centered on the garden which can be seen beyond. Above the bemah a cantilevered steel member holds radiation glulam-beams that extend over the circular, communal seating arrangement. The eternal light at the center of the circle is visually acknowledged at the beginning of the gallery connector by a diagonal cut through the evergreen yaupon trees in the garden. This contemplative walkway provides a transition from the secular building to the sacred area.

“Simple materials sensitively and delicately suggest sacred purpose.”

- 1992 AIA Dallas Design Awards Jury