Philadelphia, PA | 2015 | Completed
Consultant Team:
KieranTimberlake | Architecture
INTECH | Contractor
Studio Bryan Hanes | Landscape Architecture and Urban Design
Bruce E. Brooks & Associates | Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) Engineer
Founded in 1795, Rodeph Shalom is the oldest Ashkenazic congregation in the Western Hemisphere. Its current synagogue building, completed in 1928, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features a limestone-clad exterior and a lavish interior. With a rapidly growing congregation, Rodeph Shalom needed additional program space to align with their vision for a welcoming and open place of prayer, study, and social action. A renovation and addition by KieranTimberlake offered the congregation an opportunity to improve the historic building through connectivity and legibility by replacing the former asphalt and chain-link fence exterior with a landscape that is open and welcoming. The redesign features eighteen-foot translucent channel glass, bronze and mosaic tile detailing, a new landscape, naturally lit spaces, comprehensive stormwater management system and the reconfiguration of the parking lot and drop off area that complement the historic synagogue. The completed project has improved the perception of neighborhood safety encouraging neighbors to use the property as public space, reduced traffic congestion on the surrounding streets, decreased runoff from the site reducing the load on the municipal sewer system and renewed the congregants’ pride in their sacred space.
Photo credit: James Ewing Photography