St Ignatius Chapel
Calcagnini Contemplative Center, Georgetown University
Clarke County, VA

This Chapel is a component of the Calcagnini Contemplative Center.

Small and intimate, the chapel is intended for groups up to 24. Developing an architecture that imparts a strong and clear spirituality without specific reference to any one religion was at the heart of the design intentions. While Georgetown is a Jesuit university, the make-up of its students and faculty is varied. The chapel needed to serve all religious communities at the school – Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc. The design succeeds, avoiding both domesticity and overt religious allusion through its austere palette and simplicity of design.

Conceived as an elemental pavilion, the Chapel's palette is spare yet rich. The stuccoed masonry walls are perforated with 8” x 8” x 1½” slabs of glass; the floor is poured-in-place stained concrete. Exposed fir framing and cedar boards complete the interior. The roof is galvanized aluminum, typical for the sheds and barns of the region.

Awards & Publications

2014 Faith & Form/IFRAA International Awards Program for Religious Art & Architecture: Honor Award in Religious Architecture

2014 Virginia Society AIA: Honor Award

2014 Interior Design Magazine; Best of Year Awards Honoree

2014 NAIOP Honor Award

2009 Washington Chapter AIA;

Honor Award for Unbuilt Projects

A+A Magazine: Architectural Society of China, April 2015

Southeast Asia Building, 2015

Featured in Architizer, 2014

World Architects, 2014, "Building of the Week." Featured in "50x50 - 50 States in 50 Weeks."

Specifier Magazine, 2014, "Peace on Earth" by Sara Smylie