Won Dharma Center / By Hanrahan Meyers Architects LLP

Claverack, NY, United States
Hanrahan Meyers Architects LLP
Post BY:Kitticoon Poopong

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

The Won Dharma Center, USA, is a 32,000 square foot recreational and spiritual retreat in Claverack, New York for the Won Buddhists, a Korean organization that emphasizes balance in one's daily life and relationship to nature.

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

The center is located within a 500-acre property on a gently sloping hill with views west to the Hudson River valley and the Catskill Mountains. The buildings for the Center, including permanent and guest residences, an administration building and a meditation hall, are sited as far as possible from the highway and are oriented toward the west and south to maximize views and light.

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

The symbol of this organization is an open circle, suggesting both a void without absence and infinite return. The buildings are organized around these dual concepts of void and spiral.

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

The 5,000 square foot Meditation Hall is conceived as a simple rectangular void and a lightweight frame to the natural surroundings. Its wooden structure is exposed on three sides to form entrance and viewing porches, while the interior offers views of the mountains from the meditation space itself. The only interior intervention in this extremely pure structure is a cubic volume housing public facilities, closets and mechanical spaces.

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

The four other buildings include the administrative and dining spaces and all of the residential spaces for both guests and permanent residents. Their designs draw upon the buildings of the grass-roofed Korean village, loosely clustered and organized internally around a single central void.

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

The roof shapes of these 3,600 square foot buildings transform in section around a spiral organization, from a simple slope in section to a complex triangulated geometry at the entrance porches. The internal organization of each of these buildings allows silent walking meditation around the courtyard.

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

The courtyard also acts as a passive cooling system, allowing cross ventilation for the public spaces and open guest rooms. Like the Meditation Hall, all of these buildings are constructed completely of wood and are deeply shaded to the west and south to allow natural daylighting without excessive heat gain.
Description from the Architects:

Photo © Courtesy of Michael Moran

floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of Hanrahan Meyers Architects LLP

sustainable design features diagram--drawing © Courtesy of Hanrahan Meyers Architects LLP

facade concept diagram--drawing © Courtesy of Hanrahan Meyers Architects LLP

concept diagram--drawing © Courtesy of Hanrahan Meyers Architects LLP

model 1--drawing © Courtesy of Hanrahan Meyers Architects LLP

model 2--drawing © Courtesy of Hanrahan Meyers Architects LLP

Project Data
Project name: Won Dharma Center

Address: 361 New York, 23 Claverack, NY, United States
Program:   recreational and spiritual retreat 

Site Area: 500-acre

Building Area: 32,000 sqf
Completion Year: 2011
Award: 2010 Awards Issue of Faith & Form magazine. Read more about the awards program, Faith and Form magazine, and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture here.

The people

Client / Owner / Developer: Won Buddhism of America, Inc.

Architect: Hanrahan Meyers Architects - hMa, New York, NY

Design Principal: Hanrahan Meyers Architects with Myonggi Sul + Light and Space
Project Architect: Victoria Meyers and Thomas Hanrahan
Project Manager: Anita Ng
Structural Engineer: Wayman C. Wing Consulting Engineers
MEP/FP Engineer: CS Arch P.C.
Landscape Architect: Seo An Landscape
Lighting Designer: Light and Space Associates
Interior Designer: Myonggi Sul Design
Contractor: Heitmann Builders
Construction Manager: Heitmann Builders
GeoTech: Dente Engineering
Kitchen: Wes Design Photographs: © Michael Moranotto-archive.com

Photographs: Michael Moran

Note>>Location in this map, indicate city/country but not exact address.