Landau Harding Logo

This was my first Synagogue design that was completed in 1978. It is included to demonstrate the timelessness of the design and the recurring themes that have influenced all subsequent synagogue designs.

In this project for a new Reform Temple, we incorporate recurring themes: tradition, synthesis, indigenous materials, integration, symbolism and culture. As they appear, each strengthens the other, interlocking to create the whole. Seen in context of the themes, architecture now becomes a cultural experience. The architecture of the synagogue takes on traits of Judaism: re-examining and re-interpreting history; applying tradition to the present; questioning. Finally the architecture, like the religion, becomes a commentary for a people, a time, a place.

This Temple is set on a heavily wooded five-acre suburban site which slopes gently away from the road. The synagogue is approached from the east, providing an initial view of the Bimah wall and Ark, the symbolic heart of the building. The public character of the approach dramatically changes at the rear, to a tranquil private space for outdoor activity. The sanctuary seats 220 and can expand into the two level school to accommodate 600 for the High Holy Days.

Sloping roofs are sandwich construction of scribed wood timbers, with a pine veneer on the interior, cedar shingles on the outside and infill of insulation. Brick was selected for its insulating properties, because its indigenous to North Carolina and because of its scale. Wood was selected because of its warmth, because its indigenous to the site and because it recalls the heritage of the wooden synagogues of Eastern Europe. Much like these destroyed synagogues, the Ark is a highly crafted element, a Judaic artifacts that was originally build for Temple Beth El in Detroit, MI in 1867.

Temple Beth El occupies a site adjacent to the entry drive in Sholom Park, a Jewish campus that was developed with a community center as the central facility. The center provides recreational and social community facilities as well as shared educational and meeting spaces for two independent synagogues which flank its approach. The program called for a 350-seat sanctuary, expandable to 1200 for the High Holy Days. This design attempts to integrate the expansion space so that all congregants feel equally a part of the worship community, regardless of where they are seated. Also included in the program was a small chapel, social hall, meeting rooms, and administrative offices.

Situated in the traditional manner, oriented toward the east on top of a hill, the synagogue is reached via a circular drive and promenade, which arrive at the first quadrant [vehicular drop-off] of a four-quadrant plan. The other quadrants, a ceremonial court which serves as a focus for the internal circulation and various ancillary functions, the sanctuary and the social hall, are connected by a circulation spine which terminates at an overlook and pedestrian connection to the community center.

The focus of the new sanctuary – an historic Ark dating from the early 1920’s – inspired the cast stone and stucco vocabulary of the exterior and helped shape the interior space, giving the building a quiet classical character. Other notable features include the sanctuary’s thrust sky lit Bimah and unique ceiling vault. This vault, which extends beyond the boundaries of the room, further unifies the High Holiday worship experience, and floods the space with light from the clerestories at the spring point of the vault on either side. The careful attention given to both natural and artificial lighting, foster dramatic spatial changes reflecting nature’s daily cycle, thereby reinforcing the synagogue’s spiritual character and making it warm and inviting at all times.