Westmont College Chapel
Santa Barbara, CA

Pfeiffer Partners has designed a new 1,300-seat Chapel at Westmont College. Inspired by the surrounding landscape of sandstone coastline cliffs and the draped contours of its gently sloping site, the Chapel is sited at the center of a campus laid out on a wooded hillside, and sits at the convergence of two preserved natural oak riparian zones. Inside, the central dais of the Chapel\'s apse is surrounded by elevated platforms of pews to encourage interaction within the congregation and participation in the tradition of bearing witness. The main floor, which holds 900 people, partially consists of moveable seating to provide for a variety of configurations; the remainder of this level is fixed pews in the parterre. The balcony holds an additional 400. Designed for flexibility, the interior space will accommodate musical performance ranging from soloists to bands, organ recitals, choir, and full orchestra. The footprint of the lower level, which contains spaces for educational purposes and pre-function requirements, does not encroach upon the surrounding protected land.