Archinect
Sheryl Jordan

Sheryl Jordan

Upper Saddle River, NJ, US

anchor

Beth Israel Synagogue

The program was a new sanctuary for an existing very active reform synagogue campus with a school. The design responds to the need for great flexibility in accommodating different sizes of congregations at different services, from casual intimate Friday evening services to large crowds during High Holy Days. Instead of banal temporary seating, wooden pews are arranged in different sized circular banks on rotating "lazy susans”. The Bimah, where scriptures are read, can be situated anywhere along a central axis, allowing intimacy with various sized congregations. Large doubled concrete bents provide the major structural bays and visual expression of the space, allowing light in through interstitial skylights and clerestories.

 
Read more

Status: School Project
Location: Austin, TX, US
My Role: Designer