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Dear Beacon Community,
In June of last year, our congregation voted overwhelmingly to take advantage of a unique opportunity, by purchasing 695 Springfield Avenue in Summit, with the hope that we can build a new home there. Now the Board has taken another important step: we have just voted to hire Louis Cherry Architecture of Raleigh, North Carolina as our architect. (Website http://www.louischerry.com/) This is an exciting moment because we are now ready to start planning for a new building and grounds that will reflect who we are as a 21st-century congregation and make it possible for us to live into our aspirations by creating a place where love and liberation flourish. The Board is also expecting the feasibility report next month from our development consultant, Andy Hamlin, on the potential success for our capital campaign. With these two steps completed, the Board will have the information it needs to determine whether we can move forward with our plans to build at 695 Springfield and conclude the period of discernment that began when we purchased the property last year. For more information on discernment, you can visit our website.
Our decision to hire Louis Cherry was the culmination of a six-month search process. We selected Louis Cherry because he is an experienced, highly skilled architect and planner who has designed two inspiring and functional sanctuaries and homes for congregations, one for the UU Fellowship in Raleigh, and one for the United Church of Chapel Hill. He designs beautiful, practical and welcoming buildings. He is mature, thoughtful, values collaboration and appreciates the efforts of others. He is committed to and experienced with sustainable design and construction.
Louis Cherry was selected by a subgroup of the Facilities Expansion Task Force (the Architectural Advisory Group). The selection process included close consideration of 16 architectural firms that had some experience designing for religious institutions, interviews with 6 firms, reviews of written proposals from 4 firms, and meeting in person in Summit with 3 of those firms. Finally, in March, members of the Architectural Advisory Group traveled to Raleigh to view Louis Cherry’s buildings, before making a unanimous and enthusiastic recommendation to the Board to hire him.
Louis Cherry informed us that he intends to partner from the beginning with a highly creative and dynamic landscape architect, Tavis Dockwiller, principal of Viridian Landscape Studio in Philadelphia (website https://www.viridianls.com). Her involvement reflects the importance of investigating and understanding our site, both environmentally and historically, and then designing a building that is connected to its setting and planning for a variety of uses of outdoor space.
You will be receiving more information on Louis Cherry and Tavis Dockwiller soon, and we will be providing opportunities for input during the design process. At the same time, we are moving forward with our capital campaign, so that we are able to create a space that supports and reflects our diversity, openness and acceptance.
This is a turning point for Beacon. We are embarking on a process of re-imagining the landscape and structures that will shape and equip us and future generations for the flourishing of Beloved Community, and give us the space to faithfully tend our ministries and communities, rooted in radical love and inclusion. Beacon, our heart is in Summit, both in our historic downtown origins and our new parkland setting. With this decision, we now foundationally commit to Beloved Community.
Sincerely,
Madhan Gounder, Board President
Steven Cramer, Facilities Expansion Task Force
Facilities Expansion Task Force (FET)
Michele Blanchard, Gary Buscemi, Steve Cramer, Jessica Park, Rev. Robin Tanner ~ Contact: fet@summitbeacon.org
Architectural Advisory Group (subgroup of FET)
Steve Cramer, Gib Freeman, Helen Kaar, Gary Buscemi, Norm Miller
Louis Cherry in his own words
My practice builds upon a set of beliefs:
- Design should provide comfort and inspiration through elegant simplicity.
- Design solutions should create calm, beautiful places for people to live, congregate, and work.
- Every design decision should have a purpose and solve a functional or aesthetic problem.
- Great design comes from the synthesis of many points of view. Each of the collaborators in the design process can have a meaningful part in generating creative solutions to design challenges.
- Natural light is essential to spaces where people spend time. Daylight should be carefully controlled for glare and undesirable heat gain, creating luminous spaces that are functional and beautiful. Electric lighting should complement natural sources to carefully shape the interiors.
- Designing buildings carries an environmental responsibility. Buildings should be created to use the minimum of energy and material resources. Every building should minimize its footprint on the environment.
- Architecture can create a spirit of place, connecting people to their landscape, to each other, and to their communities. Buildings can be designed to facilitate people being comfortable and productive.
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