-Architectural Precast Association Award for Excellence
-Cast Stone Institute Commercial Excellence Award
The Chapel for Christopher Newport University was designed and programmed to encourage religious unity and freedom of worship, welcoming people of diverse beliefs by providing a place for meditation and prayer, worship and meetings. The building will enhance the concerns of the spirit and encourage living a life of inspiration, care and significance. There is a main assembly room and two seminar rooms. The close proximity of the new David Student Union, the Freeman Center, a recreation facility, and the Trible Library make this facility very convenient for most students, faculty and staff.
The Pope Chapel is executed in the campus architectural style of Neo-Georgian, employing proportional façades with pavilions demarking primary entry, with civic scale. The campus standard brick is used with Doric columns, pilasters, cornice work, and pediments of precast concrete. The high use of precast throughout the building brings both a civic scale and elegance to the one-story building.
One of the primary features of the building is the main portico at the entry, outfitted with one-story fluted Doric columns, and a full triglyph and metope pediment. The central lobby, a vast one and a half story space at the main building entry, serves as an entry and gathering space into the building. This central space is framed by paired iconic columns opening up to a paneled arched dome with an oculus showcasing the central cupola. The Celebration Hall is centered on axis from the lobby, a large 325-seat assembly space, which is flanked on both sides by Corinthian columns and pilasters.
Two additional seminar rooms allow for flexibility of use of the space for meetings, weddings, and a variety of assembly uses.
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