Architecture studio NOAN has designed a chapel within a forest overlooking a lake at the Tervajärvi campground in southern Finland.
Set in a forested area by the Tervajärvi lake near the city of Tampere, the chapel was designed to function as a camp church and as a small venue for weddings and christenings.
NOAN designed the small timber chapel to focus on the view of the adjacent lake, which is framed by a large window.
The chapel overlooks the Tervajärvi lake
"The core concept was for a simplified multifunctional space with an opening that frames the unique view to the lake," said NOAN founding partner Lassi Viitanen.
"The view works as an altarpiece for the chapel. The sliding doors opening mirrors the shape of the altar opening and makes the space flow through and connect the interior with the surroundings," he told Dezeen. "The direction of the spatial flow is emphasized by the rooftop ridge opening." The wedding chapel has a timber structure
The structure of the chapel is formed from a series of curved glue-laminated timber (glulam) beams made from Finnish spruce.
Visible inside the chapel, the structural beams form a pattern that recalls the pointed arched forms that often run alongside the nave of gothic churches.
The structure is made from glulam beams
"The curved glulam beams and interior as a whole had two visual priorities: first it should be visually influential, emphasizing joy and communality, yet also afford consolatio...