HMA | SACRED

hMa | HANRAHAN MEYERS ARCHITECTS | DESIGN IS A FRAME TO NATURE.

infinity chapel
won dharma center
chapel of the light
community of the holy spirit

project: Community of the Holy Spirit
location: Manhattan, NY

date: 2009
contact: hMa hanrahanMeyers architects

CHS (Community of the Holy Spirit) is a design proposal submitted by hMa to the Community of the Holy Spirit church, a convent established in 1950 on the upper west side of Manhattan on 113th Street. The sisters of CHS were looking to build a new green facility out of their respect for the earth and love of nature.

Imagining the Project:

- 150th Street is the main connector between Amsterdam and Broadway, and, for this reason, a good location for the building entrance, facing North.

- Convent Avenue is a quiet, tree-lined street with good orientation for a garden, ‘side’ of building, and East facing.

Preliminary square footage analysis:

- Zoning with an FAR of 3.7 allows 11,300 square feet of usable floor area on the site with
a 3700 square foot basement. As a corner site does not require a rear yard, hMa put the
garden in the center of the block, to maximize access to light and air, to achieve LEED
quality rating.

hMa preliminary Design Approach:

- Create two building blocks with individual room on North or South side of garden court.

site photograph

building diagram sketch

building from northeast

building from southeast

plans: all floors

view of garden court from Convent Avenue at night

entry lobby

view of entrance to chapel

chapel interior looking at altar

ichapel interior looking at garden court and refectory

view from refectory toward garden court and chapel