Timber on the inside

Our new church design includes a series of simple vertical wooden elements that repeat around the glass worship space, and on the  porches of the surrounding buildings
beacon hill owasso

Two things that (at least in the Western tradition) intuitively speak to us of 'sacred space' are verticality and repetition.  Think the columns of a cathedral.  But using thin, wooden timbers is a lovely way to enable a space to feel the same way in a more modern (and affordable!) idiom, and within a smaller area.

Witness the ski resort cafe, below, by Japanese studio Design Spirits, which feels startlingly church-like:

The project was a retrofit of an existing interior space, and was completed in just 45 days, which should be inspiration for any church congregation faced with refitting a secular space to sacred purpose.

(photos via dezeen)