Corpus Christi Jesuit Community

corpus christi jesuit community
boscombe, bournemouth
society of jesus
£6m

The building is a religious house focused on the needs of up to 24 elderly priests who require constant nursing care.

The following extract from the original two page client brief set the tone for the project ;

'The sense is strong that this place needs to be attractive, comfortable, well established but not overly lavish or exuberant. It should have an atmosphere of peace and of rest and be an easy place for meeting and prayer. The chapel should be central to the place (not necessarily geographically) but it is here that the group will meet each day for mass together. The dining room too and social areas should be comfortable, secure, continually stimulating. Living accommodation should be spacious, en-suite. It can be on two or more floors. ...’

The house emulates the ordering of a traditional abbey with the chapel, meeting room (chapter house), dining room (refectory), library and bedroom clusters (dormitories) arranged over three stories around a covered cloister. This provides indoor recreational and social opportunities as well as giving a clear central reference point to the sometimes confused residents.
Three axis help structure the activities within the building; west to east-temporal to spiritual; north to south- public to private and low to high-communal to personal.
 

photography : Helene Binet