Sacral · Timber and stone

Project 02

Fjord Chapel

Location

Sognefjord, Norway

Year

2019 — 2021

Area

180 m²

Program

Chapel and gathering hall

Fjord Chapel — main view

[ Render — approach from the water ]

A stone base cut into the slope, carrying a timber room that holds one view and nothing else.

A stone base cut into the slope, carrying a timber room that holds one view and nothing else.

Built from the slope up

The chapel begins as local stone, laid dry against the hillside to make a level ground where there was none. Above that base the building turns to timber, and the change in material is the only threshold the visitor crosses.

Inside, the room narrows toward a single opening framing the far shore. Seating is loose and low. Acoustics are handled entirely by the ribbed ceiling, which was drawn as a structural problem and left as a visible one.

Weather as finish

The exterior cladding is untreated. Over the first decade it will silver unevenly — darker where the fjord wind carries salt, lighter under the eaves. The building was detailed to make that difference legible rather than to resist it.

Fjord Chapel — interior overview

[ Interior — nave under the ribbed ceiling ]

Fjord Chapel — detail A

[ Nave — north light ]

Fjord Chapel — detail B

[ Detail — timber joint ]

Fjord Chapel — exterior

[ Exterior — chapel from the shore ]

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