THE ABBEY CHURCH, REFECTORY,
and LIBRARY COMPLEX

 ALL buildings in the monastic complex are designed around a wide arcade which allows for movement from building to building as well as provides shade and cover from the elements. Roofs are designed as folded drapes which lay down upon each structure, but are held up from the desert floor like the hem of a robe. They are fashioned in rust colored Corten steel panels, and sit above low walls and column arcades built up out of rammed earth, a mixture of hand poured concrete ingredients mixed with the native soil of the site. Windows are located strategically to capture views of the hills beyond as well as to channel sunlight into specific locations within the buildings. The undersides of soffits and ceilings will be exposed cedar timbers cut to support the various folds of the rooflines above. Naturally colored concrete and decomposed granite will define the pavements with the careful addition of native plant species. The buildings will be deeply shaded, highly insulated, oriented toward the northern light, and cross ventilated to rely maximally on the beneficial effects of the native climate and underscore a sense of longevity and sustainability.

 IT IS our hope that with the work that we all do here, we will remind ourselves, and those who come after us, of the connection between work, the contemplation of natural forces which are larger than ourselves, and worship. It is our hope that we will finish with something as beautiful and seamless as that with which we began. And it is our hope that the Benedictines here will recognize the new monastery as their own.

(From Design Statement, by Scott Johnson)