Niall McLaughlin’s peaceful yet spatially dynamic Bishop Edward King Chapel sits on the knoll of a hill surrounded by the green and yellow rolling fields of Oxfordshire, England. The Chapel’s design evokes an expression of the “divine” by creating a sense of warmth and stillness in a space that is at the same time other-wordly - a place of transition.
The spatial concept arises from the word ‘nave’ and reflects its derivation from the Latin word ‘navis’, meaning ship. There are several symbolic references in McLaughlin’s design. The nave is the central body of a church, the place where the congregation gathers. Nave can reference the still centre of a turning wheel, and a ship’s wheelhouse which is a fixed structure amidst surrounding movement. The word navel also speaks of elements that grow outwards from a central point, like foundations from a hollow in the earth.
The Chapel explores these themes - a place of gathering, stillness and reflection at the centre of a space that holds, surrounds and grounds. A delicate timber hull-like structure grows from this hollow, reaching up from the fields to the treetops. Its timber frame fingers reach skyward to the treetops, drawing the warm summer light down into the nave.
