Chesed V’emet Congregation Facility

Israel

Project: A 1,800 sq. m. Worship Facility and Conference Center.
Location: The light industrial area of Kannot Junction just South of Gedera and East of Ashdod, Israel.
Vision: A Messianic facility that echoes traditional synagogue typology and evokes a traditional middle-eastern formal vocabulary as expressed in contemporary building technology and details. Client requested dome and arches.
Program: A 350-seat Sanctuary, with overflow seating for another 250, support offices, education facilities in a daylight basement, and a swimming pool.
Solution: Formal complexity was imparted by laying out the plan on opposing grids defined by the street grid and a diagonal axis aligned to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The building is organized around a primary Jerusalem axis which runs from the street, through the foyer and Sanctuary and culminates at the Bimah. The conflict between the axial emphasis and the centralized form of the domed Sanctuary are resolved by splitting the dome with a skylight along the axis.

The building form is given a greater sense of scale and mass by reducing the opening sizes while simultaneously meeting a concern for security and energy conservation. The building is concrete utilizing an effes insulation system. The outdoor amphitheater meeting space grants more daylight to the basement facilities, and the swimming pool was slightly enlarged to give it a pointed shape, becoming a dramatic reflecting pool at the south façade.

The project was brought before the Israeli Supreme Court by anti-missionaries on charges of non-compliance to zoning codes; however, the project was found to be in compliance.

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Chesed V’emet Congregation Facility arch construction model windowscreen
Model [345KB] | Arch from inside [299KB] | Window Screen for Arch [238KB] | Construction [283KB]