Trahan Architects integrates "sense of mystery" into circular university chapel in New Orleans

US studio Trahan Architects has placed a round chapel with a brick facade and cross-laminated timber structure at a university in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Trahan Architects, which has offices in New Orleans and New York, completed the 4,620-square-foot (430-square metre) Chapel of St Ignatius and the Gayle and Tom Benson Jesuit Center in 2025 at Loyola University.

Trahan Architects designed the chapel to embody Loyola's foundational mission – developing the whole person in care of the mind, body and spirit – through its experience, sequence and form while adhering to the campus context.

"Its minimal sensibility provides a serene backdrop that is animated by richly textured handmade liturgical objects, custom furnishings, sculptures and the spirit of all who enter," the studio told Dezeen.

The chapel sits in the centre of campus using handmade bricks from San Anselmo, Italy to blend into the red brick of the surrounding modern, Gothic and Tudor buildings.

The terracotta base and light-grey translucent glaze sets the chapel apart from its neighbours when seen from afar, but as visitors approach, the similarities of the chapel and its context – like the basketweave coursing of the brickwork and its deep red hue – reveal themselves.

"Its textured, handmade quality relates back to St Ignatius's conversion moment emerging from his storied period of isolation and prayer in the Cave of Manresa," the studio explained.

The team arranged the cylindrical form so the points of entry connect to the existing campus circulation pattern, and the rounded form invites people in, leaving space within the urban grid.

"Its form and materiality aim to engage all students, faculty and visitors, with a sense of mystery, texture and complementary contrast among the surrounding buildings," the studio said.

"The presence of this modestly sized, yet minimal structure, is striking at first, but softens as one approaches."

Underneath the brick cladding, a cross-laminated timber structure – the first in the state of Louisiana, according to the studio – creates a series of circular spaces that reference a traditional axial church plan but favour equality over hierarchy with intimate gathering spaces.

"These circles intersect to create sacred thresholds with the symbol vesica pisces and a procession of openness guided by light and scale," the studio said.

"These thresholds in many ways become as important as the spaces themselves – they are moments of the spirit in transition."

Rather than a series of fixed pews that face an altar, the chapel is designed for flexibility with moveable chairs that can be arranged under a circular skylight that adds to the natural light that washes in from large, deliberate openings in the facade.

The interior finishes prioritise visual and acoustic quietness.

"Made of modest materials – white gypsum walls, polished concrete floors and a subtle neutral fabric lining the sanctuary walls – its minimal character is a subtle canvas animated by visitors," the studio said.

"Their clothes, skin tones, movements, celebrations, objects, all contribute to the palette without the architecture dominating their experience of serenity and faith."

Previously, Trahan Architects completed a "grand yet minimalistic" pavilion for an expo in Osaka, Japan, a "weightless" hand-bent steel pavilion in Arkansas and a restoration of the Superdome in New Orleans.

The photography is by Tim Hursley.

Project credits:

Architect: Trahan Architects
Project team: Trey Trahan, Brad McWhirter, Robbie Eleazer, Conner Bryan, David Sweere, Charles Weimer, James Babin, Jarri Hasnain, Nader Wallerich, Ryan Barnette, Sheena Garcia
Contractor: MAPP Construction
Landscape architect: Spackman Mossop Michaels (SMM)
Structural engineer: Morphy Makofsky, Inc.
MEP engineer: Introba (Formerly Integral Group)
Acoustics & AV: Threshold Acoustics
Cost estimating: Cost+Plus
Lighting design: Tillotson Design Associates
Client representative: The Tobler Company