New Chapel - A Reason for Celebration April 2006
Quad night view
The first new construction at Andover Newton in more than 40 years is about to become
a reality! The Wilson Chapel will be an outward expression of our abiding commitment to
the spiritual formation of all who come to the Hill to prepare for ministry.
The silent phase of our Capital Campaign continues to gain momentum and support from
individuals, foundations and new friends who believe in the need to develop the next
generation of ethical and spiritual leaders. In the near future, we will be announcing
the public phase of the Campaign and will be encouraging our ANTS family to join in
contributing to the building of this new addition to the School.
In preparing for this construction, we have hired Donham & Sweeney as our Architects and Shawmut Design and Construction to be our Builder.
The story that follows from Donham & Sweeney explains how they developed the design for the new Wilson Chapel.
Quad day view
From Donham & Sweeney
For forty years the east end of the Andover Newton quadrangle has been waiting for a chapel. At the west end is the library. The seminary has long wanted to close the other end with a building. More important than completing an architectural composition, however, was the desire to make a visible and inspirational statement of mission. The Memorial Chapel will represent the spiritual side of Andover Newton's mission and the existing library represents the intellectual side.
Several times a week, the seminary pauses in its intellectual work to come together as a community for worship and spiritual refreshment. Preparing for ordained and lay ministry brings about great change in the individuals involved, a process called formation. This process is best undertaken in community, rather than isolation, with ample time for meditation and reflection. The Wilson Chapel is intended to help foster that.
The Chapel's program had to address a number of questions:
How do we provide for corporate worship yet also provide opportunities for quiet meditation?
How do we provide flexible space for a variety of different uses but give each use its own individual character?
How do we give the Chapel the visual importance it deserves despite its small floor area relative to the other buildings on the quadrangle?
How do we organize the building to encourage people to stop in even when they may not have a particular need?
How do we place the uses within the building to encourage the maximum interchange of people?
How do we use the building to help create a sense of community?
How does the building respond to its unique setting?
How do we respect the traditional architecture of the campus yet make a statement about looking to the future?
As an element in the composition of the quadrangle, the Chapel had to be big enough to hold its own. Fortunately, part way through the design process the program changed from seating for 100 to seating for 200, which made the building bigger. The tall gabled end was placed facing the quadrangle and the library at the opposite end. Multiple small windows enhance the scale of the building making it look bigger than a few larger windows would have. And a tall glass tower, illuminated at night as a beacon (Matthew 5:14-16), provides a strong vertical emphasis.
Interior front view
The exterior cladding is limestone to provide a deliberate contrast with the red brick and stone trimmed buildings on the north and south sides of the quadrangle. Opposite, at the west end, the library is clad in tan terra cotta. Hence the two buildings symbolizing the dual mission of the seminary distinguish themselves from the other supporting, but background, buildings. The historic faith traditions at Andover Newton, United Church of Christ and American Baptists, along with more than 30 others led by the Unitarian Universalists, Methodists and Episcopalians, all view themselves as being active in the world, not cloistered and removed. Expansive areas of glass, to the south and to the east with the Blue Hills of Milton, became a logical way of making that connection. However, much of the glass is heavily fritted to lend a sense of mystery to the transparency.
Interior back view
On the interior, the two gabled walls are also clad in limestone but beginning at the floor the north wall is clad in wood strips that continue up and over the pitched ceiling down to the glass wall on the south. Thin steel structural elements, round tubes and cables (Ephesians 4:16), are used in a decorative way to enliven the 43-foot high ceiling. Parallel built-in wood benches line the north and south walls. At the west end the glass tower drops into a pool of water symbolizing baptism and spiritual birth (Matthew 3:13-17).
News
Topping Off Ceremony for the Wilson Chapel October 2006
Photo Albums
Construction Progress Ongoing
Dedication of the
Construction Site April 2006
Groundbreaking Ceremony for New Wilson Chapel May 18,
2006
Topping Off Ceremony for the Wilson Chapel October 18, 2006
Updated October 19, 2006