Mixed Use Facility Realizes Dream

Interfaith Chapel and Alumni Center Responds to University’s Unique Needs

At Concord University, IKM Incorporated faced a different challenge with the University Point, Interfaith Chapel & Museum and Alumni Center.

            Nearly 75 years in the making, the idea of an interfaith chapel was posed by then-President of the University, J. Franklin Marsh, Sr. In the late 1940s supporters raised nearly $120,000 for the project, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that a foundation was established by alumni and friends for the construction of the chapel. In 2003, momentum began to rise with supplemental grants, bequests and donations. Recent generous gifts from the Erickson Foundation and the Wilkes family have finally enabled this project to come to fruition. 

             As a multipurpose facility, the design of University Point had to live up to the design aesthetic taking its place alongside the venerable university buildings lining the front drive of the campus. The new building would serve students, faculty and staff of the University as well as the Concord community.  

             IKM was poised to accept the design challenges. The facility had to address the aspect of sanctuary for the free exploration of spiritual and religious matters, giving preference to none. It had to provide a museum as a tribute to the spirit and character of the people of the region.  And, it had to become an alumni center to facilitate stronger relations with the University’s 14,000 alumni and friends.  

As an alumni center and interfaith chapel, this building must be both a part of the campus and a retreat from it.  Positioned at the edge of the tree line, the new Concord University Alumni Center and Interfaith Chapel gathers in the low lawn that is the formal campus edge.  This boundary is symbolic of the end of one world (the academic) and the beginning of the wider world beyond.  Placing the building at this edge creates a threshold or gateway from one world to the other.  The building is a touchstone guiding the students beyond the boundaries of the University while helping graduates reconnect with the traditions and experiences of University life. 

The traditional forms of arch and gable crafted in the precision of masonry offer a strong connection to the architecture of the campus.  These forms are remade in a minor scale that is marked out to accommodate chapel, gallery, and gathering space for friendly celebration.  The common forms provide connection to tradition while the smaller scale carves out invitation to share experiences and memories.

The interplay of light and shadow animate the mystery of chapel with the spectacle of gallery and offer relief to the needs of offices and conference lounges.  The 16,000 square foot facility plays out this dance between whim and work against the evergreen outline of the West Virginia mountainside.