The objective for the Plaza was to develop an environment conducive to knowledge sharing, social gathering, and interaction between four religious groups - Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, and Protestant - while maintaining the necessary specificity in the design to support each religion's distinct beliefs, customs, and worship rituals.

The program includes administrative and religious program office space, meeting rooms, conference facilities, kitchen areas conforming to religious food preparation, an interfaith library, and small chapel areas for each religion and other associated spaces. Another objective was that the design should respond to other external forces, creating a synergy of parts in concert with the ambitious growth and planning for both the broader University Circle and Case Western Reserve University communities surrounding the plaza.

By understanding the key objectives for Case Western Reserve University's master plan and that for University Circle at large, ka was able to insure that the Interfaith Plaza became an active participant in meeting the goals of the plan.

ka developed two schemes for the project, both of which incorporated the internal program requirement and took into account the external forces of the area.

Scheme 1 (images shown) compresses and solidifies as much of the program into one location and by responsive site organization, it satisfies the requirements of pedestrian path, green space, and other external forces.

Scheme 2 can be described as externalized, satisfying the Interfaith program elements by creating separate facilities for the various functions and arranges the resultant structures to create green spaces for common exterior areas.

ka provided a rendered sketch up model and animation of each scheme which allowed end users, not versed in traditional architectural presentation techniques, to understand the project. Project to be +/-130,00 SF.

Services Provided:

• Architecture
• Interior Design
• Landscape Architecture