The Chapel of Light | Dustin Leaney

The owners of the Tallwoods Golf course asked for a small, beautiful, traditional, wedding chapel for approximately 100 people, to be situated on their golf course.  

The chapel was designed on a traditional East/West axis, with an internal proportion to fit a perfect circle within the hall. The owners envisaged a spacious and light interior, but a steel portal frame would be costly and cold.  Timber would require exposed trusses or expensive timber work, filling in the space.  So a timber and steel portal frame was developed, with standard sized hardwood timber and a rolled steel pipe tying the timber together.  This created a rigid portal, but also served to highlight the geometry of the circle which generated the internal proportions.

The exterior of the hall is clad with wide weatherboards, to reflect a traditional weatherboard churches and the North and South facades have tall floor to ceiling glass (carefully shaded on the North side), taking in the expansive views of the surrounding golf course and lakes.

A key component of the build was to integrate the work of their glass artist, Alexandra Banks. www.alesbanksglassartist.com.  Alexandra Banks provided a resin cast glass art design for the East and West facades.  A flowing and curving design representing 'tying the knot'.  The colours were specifically selected by the owners.  The glass weighed in at approx. 60kg per square meter, so carefull coordination with the structural engineer and the timber fabricator at Bago Joinery were required.

The entry doors were also designed by the architect, and carefully crafted by Bago joinery to reflect the geometries of the chapel.

A standout feature is the hydraulic lifting doors at the rear of the hall.  These doors pivot out like wings, and open the entire rear of the hall up to the adjacent exterior terraces on either side. The design is well suited to post-CoVID-19 habitation with superb natural cross ventilation, and opportunities for social distancing in a seamless inside/outside space.

The interior design is predominately a function of the architecture of the space, comprising of a blackbutt portal frame, Victorian Ash joinery and flooring, and white steel and aluminium framing to windows.  The interior carpet was selected by the owners, and the pews, pulpit and ornamentation where sourced from the owners local catholic church. 

The Chapel is a collaborative project starting with the Owners, Barry & Vivien Sale, Townplanner, Tony Fish from PDA Planning, Architect, Dustin Leaney of Innerchi Studios, Structural Engineer, Chris Venn-Brown, Builder, Wayne Munro of Waylyn Homes, Glass Artist Alexandra Banks, and many more tradespeople, suppliers and consultants. (apologies for not having space to name them all.)

Owners Barry & Vivien started this project with lofty ideals, big hearts, and bucket loads of community spirit.  The Chapel of Light is a direct result of their enthusiasm and perserverance and trust in the process.  Now the Chapel of Light sits peacefully in the landscape, awaiting to bless the next couple to come to tie the knot.