Below are summaries of ideas and plans presented by the five work groups at the Design Workshop held at Chestnut Hill Monthly Meeting on September 16, 2006. Photographs of plans and plan diagrams are available as separate documents for each workshop. The intention of the summaries is to identify viable options for further development and study.

WORSHIP AND SPIRITUALITY GROUP

Issues Addressed / General Ideas

How big Meeting Room should be -125, but with possibility to be expanded via Loggias, etc. How does one enter the Meeting Room (i.e., transition to worship)

Feeling of substantiality of materials - Sense of light, sense of weight

Worship in quiet with light (natural)

Turrell in Meeting Room - Unnoticed during worship

Fireplace optional

Existing benches desirable but not necessary

Inward focus for Worship

Presented Scenario

The W/S scenario presented had an east-west orientation with full southern exposure. The building was set in the middle of the site, surrounded by woods except to the northwest. The scheme proposed a layered entry sequence from the north - a path through trees, a porch, a foyer, flanking storage rooms to create depth as one enters the Meeting Room, and the Meeting Room itself. The notion would be to accentuate the journey to spirituality and to create a buffer from Mermaid Lane. The Meeting Room would have several exits. East of the Foyer/Meeting Room was the Gathering Room, Kitchen, Library, and Office. Above this wing was the First Day School on a north-south orientation with the southern end accessible to the woods. The group felt that the entry to the FDS should also augment a spiritual experience.

The kitchen was open to the Gathering Room and Library, with an informal, domestic feel. The Library would function as a meeting room and discussion area. There was thought that doubling up on functions should be considered.

Regarding the site, parking was located against Mermaid Lane and the Mermaid Inn property line. Vehicle entry was in the existing location. There was a labyrinth located to the east of the building, nestled into the rocks and surrounded by pines at the SE corner of site. South of the building was a treehouse and water feature (and presumably play area).

Other notes:

The Gathering Room and ancillary spaces should be able to accommodate a dinner for 80. Also, if FDS goes to an upper level, consideration should be given for HC access and functionality for outside groups (e.g., elderly).

PHASING GROUP

Presented Scenarios

The group presented two scenarios for phasing:

Scenario A - Meeting Room and Gathering Room go to the new site and the First Day School functions stay at the existing site - In this scenario, FDS would move to the existing Meeting Room / Gathering Room/Office Area. The existing Kitchen and FDS side of the Meetinghouse would be rented to other groups. In this scenario, Turrell skypiece might be installed in the new Meeting Room.

Scenario B - The First Day School functions go to the new site, and the Meeting Room and Gathering Room stay at existing Meetinghouse. Again, the First Day School side of the existing Meetinghouse gets rented out. The scheme considered expansion of the existing Meeting Room to increase capacity. Alternately, there could be two services. In this scenario, a Turrell piece might be installed in public areas at the new site.

The group's conclusion was that either scenario would work fine. Also, both scenarios were considered by the group to be temporary solutions. Therefore, in both scenarios, investment in existing Meetinghouse should be minimal. The issue was raised about separating the program, especially children from parents. The group acknowledged that it was not ideal and again, temporary.

PUBLIC INTERFACE / TURRELL GROUP

Presented Scenario

The proposed scenario relocated the main site entrance to the Germantown Avenue side of Mermaid Lane. The idea would be to provide more street presence, approachability, and visibility (especially to Turrell). The drive was over a bridge, flanked by rocks and a water feature.

The group imagined three Turrell pieces, and it was noted that seeing at least one at night would be a plus. One was located in the Meeting Room, one in the Gathering Room, and one in a courtyard garden.

The building was a tiered structure, located in the center of the site on the Germantown Avenue side. It was conceived as two levels, with the Gathering Room and Meeting Room on the lower level and an upper level of Kitchen, Serving and First Day School, all bridging to the woods and rocks via bridges (CONFIRM). An amphitheater, treehouse, and play area were located in the back, with the amphitheater nestled into the pines. There was also a meditative pond in the courtyard garden.

Parking was located along Mermaid Lane and UCP side of the site. From the parking areas, pedestrians would walk southward through a courtyard garden and into the Gathering Room, and then into the Meeting Room (each with a Turrell). There was a loggia off the Meeting Room, and the Meeting Room is the last of the spatial progressions of "light." A caretaker's apartment was located built into the hill adjacent to the UCP parking lot.

Possible other uses for the Meeting House: AA, nursery school, polling place, "do good" groups. There was concern regarding noise from the Mermaid Inn.

ACTIVITIES GROUP

Presented Scenarios

The group started with the notion of a two level Meeting House with the lower level open to sunlight on several sides, as well as the idea of siting the Meeting room first and the other rooms around it. Two basic Meeting Room shapes were identified: a nearly square room (Rectangular version) and a circular room (Circular version). The group presented two schemes.

The Rectangular version had a Meeting Room on the upper level, with loggias on the south and east. North of the Meeting Room was a loggia (dining/buffer), then the Gathering Room, then a porch. The Meeting Room had three-sided seating with a fireplace to the west, and a glass wall to the east, oriented to the pines. The Serving Area and a Kitchen flanked the buffer space, and the buffer space could open to the Gathering Room for larger group dining. The opposite side of the buffer space and Gathering Room had coats, lavatories, and exterior storage.

The lower level of the Rectangular version had the First Day School rooms in an L-shaped configuration on the south and east, surrounding a square block that contained the Nursery, lavatories, halls, and storage.

The Circular Version imagined a circular Meeting Room ringed by light wells and a circular loggia on the upper level, set into the old pines. A porch and Gathering Room/Library were located north of the Meeting Room, with a gently curving ramp from the parking to the entry. Also flanking the Meeting Room were coats and lavatories. The First Day School, Kitchen, Serving, lavatories, and Weekday School Office were located on the lower level.

Parking was along Mermaid Lane. A retention pond was located on the western corner of the site. A separate walk led to the lower level, passing a play area, garden, and labyrinth. A treehouse was located in the woods at the southern corner of the site. There was a lawn at the upper level near the front entrance.

GREEN STRATEGIES GROUP Issues Addressed / General Ideas

Insulation

Orientation

Daylighting (clearstory)

Technology — Perhaps some photo-voltaic Windows — Triple glazed

Geothermal not worth it

General belief was that money should go into a tight building properly oriented with high energy efficiency - less interest in active solar, geothermal, etc.

Presented Scenario

The scheme presented by the group had a linear orientation along the east-west access to maximize solar benefit. The building was located in the center of the site to maximize hours of sunlight and minimize noise. From west to east, the program areas in the building were the First Day School/Kitchen first, then the Gathering Room, then the Meeting Room opening to an amphitheater against the pines. Above, on a second level, were the nursery and Office. The Library was part of the Gathering Room. There was green roof over the Meeting Room, possibly imagined as a slip-gable roof with south facing clearstory. There was a porch at the entryway and south of the First Day School rooms. This porch had a retractable awning and could be used for outdoor dining.

Parking was along Mermaid Lane and UCP side (niche parking). Pedestrians walk southward from parking areas to the porch and Gathering Room. The group had no predilection for locating a Turrell piece. Play areas were to the south in the woods.