A2 Architects’ 1916 Glasnevin Centenary Chapel competition entry commemorates in particular the 232 people who died during the 1916 Rising and who are buried in a mass grave on the site in St. Paul’s Cemetery. The Chapel is to be for all denominations and will primarily accommodate ceremonies held before a cremation.
A semicircular Main Piazza generated by the movement of mourners and visitors embraces both the existing 1916 Monument and the proposed Centenary Chapel. On approach the Chapel rises as a cylindrical centerpiece from the baseline of a sweeping oak-beamed canopy that cantilevers from a repeating screen of vertical stone piers. A car-parking area providing the required 17no. car spaces is located to the other side of this sweeping canopy screen. The Chapel’s outward image, not unlike that of a lantern, emerges as a witness to the Chapel as a place of commemoration, contemplation and celebration.
