Architecture firm Studio 512 has designed a concrete chapel in Texas that rises up on one side to form a pointy volume evoking a steeple.

The small, white building is located in Georgetown, a city that lies 30 miles (48 kilometres) north of Austin, where Studio 512 is based.

The chapel is part of the Kindred Oaks wedding venue ? an 11-acre (4.4 hectares) property studded with oak trees ? and is the brainchild of owners Elaine and Steve Lincoln.

Trapezoidal in plan, the gabled building has concrete walls that are skim-coated with stucco. The south side of the chapel is pulled upward to form a soaring triangular volume, evoking a traditional church steeple. The face of the pointy volume is fully glazed, with mullions arranged in a cross formation.
Inside, the tall, sculptural component houses the altar. This lofty volume gestures toward a large oak tree, which is intended to play a symbolic role during the wedding.

"Glass doors at the back of the altar give guests the option to walk through this threshold down to the oak tree at the end of the ceremony, signalling the cross over into a new chapter of life," Studio 512 said in a project statement.

The single-room chapel seats up to 30 guests. Visitors pass through a sunken, elliptical plaza and enter the building through white-washed pine doors. These large pivot doors can be opened up to enable additional seating outside.

The megaphone-like shape of the room helps amplify the voice of the officiant. Moreo...