Baha’i Temple Entrance Renovation

24 Sep Baha’i Temple Entrance Renovation

A new entrance to Chicago’s Baha’i Temple puts an elegant face on a long-neglected section of the iconic spiritual site.

Approach 8 of the Temple is the service entrance that provides an important accessible point of entry to the temple’s lower level. It’s a bleak, sunken pathway requiring a more appropriate, dignified visage and improved functionality.

In the course of working on the other projects on the property, it became necessary to demolish major sections of the existing Approach 8, creating an opportunity for a new look. OWA assisted in a complete overhaul of this undervalued entry and have created an attractive, accessible design that harmonizes seamlessly with the Temple and gardens.

Mindful of the architectural stature of its surroundings, Approach 8 possesses an elegantly quiet design aesthetic intended to complement rather than compete with the Temple’s ornate architecture. As a major circulation node, the design carefully balances aesthetics with practicality. A new exterior stairway allows for more convenient access to the Temple gardens, while a refined precast concrete bridge spans the sunken approach to link the adjacent gardens above.

Carefully integrated with its context, when it is completed in 2012, the new Approach 8 will look as if it was always a part of the Temple grounds.

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