Los Angeles-based firm Brooks + Scarpa has won the competition to design a new Interfaith Chapel at the University of Northern Florida. The firm’s winning entry is inspired by the flowing forms of fabric, structurally supported by wood lamella truss systems and vaulted glue-laminated wood beams in a diagrid configuration. The new chapel will benefit from active and passive cooling strategies, including overhangs to shade west- and south-facing operable windows, and a form that promotes natural heat convection through a chimneylike opening at the chapel’s apex, to work in conjunction with sub-floor radiant cooling systems. While the chapel reflects sunlight from its south façade, a window on the north side, positioned 30 degrees above horizontal, allows for direct views of Polaris at night.

For more details and images of Brooks + Scarpa’s winning UNF Interfaith Chapel entry, visit ARCHITECT‘s Project Gallery.