Dallas Baptist University, Patty & Bo Pilgrim Chapel

Dallas, Texas

Firm

BMA Architects

Client

Dallas Baptist University

Area

78,600 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$21,900,000

Completion Date

08/2009

Dallas Baptist University, a century-old Christian institution of higher learning, has been situated on a picturesque hilltop campus known as University Hill in southwest Dallas since 1965. Central to the university’s mission of providing Christ-centered higher education are its chapel services held three days a week. From the chapel service’s early days situated in a tent revival-style, to later years housed in a gymnasium facility on campus, it has been a long-standing vision of the university administration to build a permanent and fitting home for chapel services that are so integral to the education and development of tomorrow’s servant leaders.

The soaring Patty & Bo Pilgrim Chapel provides that long-sought permanent home for chapel services, and stands as a shining focal point among the traditional colonial style red-brick buildings on campus. Seating 1,480 in beautiful pew-backed individual seats, the worship space is designed to accommodate a multitude of campus functions in addition to chapel services. The facility incorporates current technology and state-of-the-art sound, lighting and acoustics, carefully designed to integrate seamlessly into the traditional worship space. A magnificent pipe organ serves as a companion to the technology, greatly enhancing the traditional look and feel of the space. In addition, the four-story facility houses a banquet hall, recital hall, classrooms and offices, executive conference room, and a beautifully appointed bride’s room.

Utilizing design inspiration from historical sources, as many of the surrounding campus buildings do, Pilgrim Chapel serves as a thoroughly modern facility that is crafted carefully to pay homage to an era of stirring and inspired design from our nation’s rich source of architectural history.