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Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest LGBTQ Jewish congregation, found its new home inside a landmark Cass Gilbert warehouse, and Eurostruct built it with Architecture Research Office. Warmth, openness and access shaped every part of the design. On the ground floor, a 16-foot-high lobby opens onto a sanctuary lit by daylight that moves across a canted wall of ribbed concrete, which also helps the room’s acoustics. The Ark sits within that wall behind a screen of steam-bent oak, and the curved oak pews stack away so the space can host weddings and other life events. Downstairs, a wide stair leads to classrooms, a kitchen and an oak-lined chapel and library that seats 70. Lines from Walt Whitman are inlaid in the terrazzo stairs. Completed in 2016, the synagogue is LEED Gold certified and won a Faith & Form Interfaith Design Award.
