Bishop Edward King Chapel, Ripon College, Cuddesdon by Niall McLaughlin
A new chapel for Ripon Theological College close to Oxford, shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2013. The architects explain ‘the project encapsulates two architectural images. The first is a gentle hollow in the ground as a meeting place for the community. The second is a delicate ship-like timber structure that rises into the treetops to gather the light from the leaves. The first idea speaks of ground, of meeting in the still centre. The second idea suggests an uplifting buoyancy, rising towards the light. The way in which these two opposite forces work off each other is what gives the building its particular character’.