CHABAD SYNAGOUGE

Design and Rendering Services to assist a new Fundraising campaign to raise funds for the construction of a new Synagogue for the growing Walnut Creek Jewish Community.

The land purchased for the Synagogue is located on a busy highspeed arterial road lined with modest one-story residential properties and zoned for a similar typology. Due to this the scale of the building honors the nearby properties and keeps in line with a form that would be typical of a large residential home while also introducing elements of spirituality within. The long facade abutting the arterial road is covered almost wholly in Jerusalem stone but for an arcade of thin tall stained-glass windows. These slender windows work to give balanced diffused lighting inside while still providing a sense of security between the busy roadway and the congregation inside. Traditionally in American Synagogues, the congregation prays towards the east, and the continuation of his theme along the east side of the building will create a beautiful backdrop of light for the morning prayers.

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Furthermore, the site's functionality has been reversed, by lining the StreetSide with an impenetrable facade of stone and instead creating a large entry plaza on the back of the property which works as a more traditional front for the Synagogue.