New Temple Complex

by James Gorst Architects

Client The White Eagle Lodge

Award RIBA South Award 2024, RIBA Sustainability Award (Sponsored by Autodesk), RIBA South Project Architect of the Year 2024 and RIBA South Building of the Year 2024 (Sponsored by EH Smith).

Perfectionists should start the pilgrimage to rural Hampshire now, as the architecture of this new temple for a non-denominational multi-faith spiritual organisation is so exacting it literally calms the mind – until you start thinking about how it was achieved.

Positioned on a spur of hillside, along an ancient ley line, the whitewashed timber-framed building with chalk-coloured brick sits monumentally in the landscape. A series of chakra gardens draws people towards the main temple – although you can enter from any side, a point that emphasises how all four corners of the world are welcome. If you can resist the draw of the domed temple, you can postpone enlightenment through an arrival sequence that leads from secular to ritual spaces.

Read the full citation from the RIBA Awards Jury on RIBA Journal.

Contractor Beard Construction

Environmental / M&E Engineer Skelly & Couch

Structural Engineer Eckersley O'Callaghan

Landscape Architect McWilliam Studio

Timber Framing Pacegrade Architectural Facades

Quantity Surveyor / Cost Consultant Jackson Coles

Acoustic Engineer Theatre Projects

Project Management Jackson Coles

Access Consultant Peter Connell Associates Ltd

Planning Consultant Dowsett Mayhew

Gross internal area 586 m²