Located on a heavily wooded site, this intimate building will be a place for meditation and reflection.
From the exterior, the building’s roof arcs up and away, mirroring the downward arc of the site. Cuningham Group’s design team chose materials that will change with time as they naturally age and patina, including copper, native Arkansas stone and Cypress wood siding. A band of translucent glass between the copper and the roof creates a “glowing beacon in the woods” effect. A landscaped path leading to the building signifies the beginning of the journey for visitors with a meditation garden located to the east to provide a transition from the outside. Once inside, a simple premeditation space readies visitors for the central meditation chamber.
The central meditation space is round with a conical roof, capped by a hidden skylight that gives the appearance of the roof actually being open to the sky. A focal point of the space is a ring that is open to the ground below, connecting visitors to nature and the earth. Scalloped wood walls give a sense of warmth while smaller meditation niches around the central ring provide for more personal meditation opportunities.
The House of Prayer opened in December 2007.