The building boom that has gripped Auckland in recent years is reflected in the 2017 Auckland Architecture Awards. Forty-four projects have received honours this year, 13 more than in 2016. One of which is the Bishop Selwyn Chapel, Holy Trinity Cathedral, by Fearon Hay Architects in the category of Public Architecture.
Fearon Hay have done a glowing makeover with a radical departure from the norm in church design. Instead of doors, the new chapel opens the walls on three sides with floor-to-ceiling glass.
As though that wasn’t open enough, the entire south wall disappears at the touch of a button, silently gliding apart as a motorised stacking slider to completely open the space to the air and the sounds of the surrounding garden, oak trees and sky. The ceiling by Studio Carolina Izzo is adorned in more than 50,000 sumptuous gold leafs.
Even if you’re not religious, you can’t avoid the way the material exquisitely reflects the light, layering the space in a deep golden hue. Sublime.
