Monroe Street Abbey
Phoenix, Arizona
Monroe Street Abbey
Cultural, Workplace, Resilience, Reinvention
University of Jamestown Chapel Renovation and Center for Faith and Life
Preserving legacy, creating connection
Client
University of Jamestown
Location
Jamestown, North Dakota
Size
19883 sq ft
Expertise
Cultural, Learning, Resilience
Delivery Method
CMAR
Project Team
Founded by Presbyterian settlers in 1883 – six years before North Dakota was admitted to the union – the University of Jamestown (UJ) holds the distinction of being the first college chartered in the state. Throughout its history, UJ has remained steadfast in its commitment to fostering a well-rounded student experience, integrating academic excellence, athletics, and spiritual development into its core ethos. Jones Studio’s renovation of the historic Voorhees Chapel and the design of the new Center for Faith and Life reinforce this holistic ethos by dissolving boundaries between spiritual practice and everyday student life, creating a campus heart defined by openness, connection, and shared experience.
Originally designed in the Collegiate Gothic style by Dutch architect and then-university president Barend H. Kroeze, the Voorhees Chapel was completed in 1918 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. By 2022, the chapel required thoughtful modernization to support contemporary modes of gathering, reflection, and worship. Jones Studio’s renovation honors the building’s historic character while reimagining it as an inclusive, student-centered environment—one that prioritizes accessibility, flexibility, and connection across levels.
Working closely with university leadership, the firm restored and reconfigured both the main and lower levels of the chapel to foster visual and social continuity. On the main level, obsolete elements such as the choir balcony above the entry were removed, opening long sightlines across the sanctuary and reinforcing a sense of collective gathering. Original wooden pews were carefully reused and repurposed into dining tables for a new student café, extending the life of the material while symbolically linking nourishment of body and spirit. At the far end of the sanctuary, the raised stage was replaced with an acoustically engineered shell for speakers and music, paired with integrated audio and projection systems discreetly embedded within the architecture. Smooth white surfaces and indirect light wash the interior, amplifying daylight and reinforcing the chapel’s renewed identity as a place of clarity, warmth, and communal connection.
The eastern retaining wall was opened to create an indoor garden terrace that links the lower level directly to the new Center for Faith and Life, with stepped seating that doubles as lecture and event space. A former exterior brick bearing wall—once a threshold—now anchors the interior, its presence emphasized by a ceiling structure that traces the geometry of existing stained-glass windows and reinforces continuity between old and new.
The chapel’s lower level—once relegated to storage—was transformed into an active, light-filled extension of campus life. Now home to the School of Character in Leadership, the renovated level includes glass-fronted offices, classrooms of varying scales, small-group study rooms, and a generous central gathering space that supports informal interaction and programmed events alike. Strategic openings and transparency ensure visual connection throughout, allowing students to see and be seen as they move between spaces.
Emphasizing daylight, natural materials, and spatial flow, the new 8,246-square-foot Center for Faith and Life serves as a vibrant nexus where student life and spiritual exploration seamlessly converge. The addition physically and programmatically connects the chapel to the neighboring Badal Nafus Center, home to the campus dining hall, further strengthening daily patterns of movement across campus. Inside, the Center for Faith and Life features a student café and store, a large open lounge and event space, a terraced lecture area, and an outdoor courtyard that frames views back to the chapel’s stained glass and the historic campus beyond.
Together, the renovated chapel and new Center for Faith and Life create a layered sequence of spaces that are quiet yet social, contemplative yet active. Transparency, daylight, and clear circulation paths maintain visual connection from the lower level through the café and into the new addition, reinforcing a sense of belonging and shared purpose. Even during North Dakota’s coldest winters, the Center for Faith and Life remains a luminous gathering place—one where warmth, light, and community are always present.
