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The Julia Thompson Smith Chapel
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ATLANTA -- Agnes Scott College’s Julia Thompson Smith Chapel has been selected for a 2009 Decatur Design Award for New Construction from the city of Decatur and the Decatur Historic Preservation Commission.
“We gave it a design award because it will stand the test of time in its use of materials, scale, massing and relationship to the campus,” said Regina Brewer, preservation planner for the Decatur Historic Preservation Commission. Calling the chapel “stunning,” she also said, “It is so fresh and original yet references classic architecture in a meaningful way.”
The award recipients were given certificates signed by Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd and a plaque to acknowledge the chapel’s award-winning design. The event, held May 3 at Decatur’s Old Courthouse, had been scheduled initially for March 1, but was postponed because of snow.
“The awards ceremony was a very nice, small Decatur affair,” said the Rev. Kate Colussy-Estes, Agnes Scott’s Julia Thompson Smith Chaplain, who accepted the award on behalf of the college and its architects, Maurice Jennings, and contractors, Brassfield & Gorrie.
The Decatur Design Awards were established in 1997 to honor projects that demonstrate excellence in design, historic preservation, adaptive use and residential additions and to recognize projects that promote the historic character of the city. Every year the Decatur Historic Preservation Commission judges submit and select exemplary projects. Agnes Scott’s Julia Thompson Smith Chapel was one of 11 projects chosen this year.
A Christian chapel welcoming to people of all faiths, it is the first freestanding chapel in the college’s 120-year history. It was designed by architect Maurice Jennings of Fayetteville, Ark. on a philosophy that upholds the principles of organic architecture espoused by Frank Lloyd Wright and Fay Jones, Jennings’ mentor: harmony between the building and its natural surroundings; close relationship of the individual elements of a building to each other; generous use of natural light and the honest expression of materials. The architecture firm of Maurice Jennings is the successor to Fay Jones and is known nationally for its distinctive contemporary Gothic chapels.
Named for an Agnes Scott alumna, the Julia Thompson Smith Chapel was dedicated in spring 2008.
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Agnes Scott College educates women to think deeply, live honorably and engage the intellectual and social challenges of their times. Students are drawn to Agnes Scott by its excellent academic reputation, exceptional faculty, and metropolitan Atlanta location – offering myriad cultural and experiential learning opportunities. A diverse and growing residential community of scholars, this highly selective liberal arts and sciences college is known for its dynamic and challenging intellectual community. Encouraging students to engage the wider world through study abroad and presenting its curriculum with international context, Agnes Scott College delivers on its promise: The World for Women.