Chapel for Ripon College - Architectural Review
Issue 1375
September 2011
Text Catherine Slessor
Images Níall McLaughlin Architects
In July 2009, Níall McLaughlin won a competition to design the Bishop Edward King Chapel for Ripon College in Oxfordshire. The project is now on site and is due for completion in August 2012. The design synthesises two key architectural ideas.
The first is a hollow in the ground that acts as a meeting place for the community. The second is a delicate, hull-like structure that rises to the tree tops to gather light from the leaves. The first speaks of rootedness, of meeting in the still centre; the second suggests a buoyancy. These two opposing forces play off each other to create a resonant whole.