cruciform skylight illuminates subterranean prayer room in korea

a prayer room carved into the hillside

ITM Yooehwa Architects completes this ‘Heaven’s Voice’ prayer room at South Korea‘s Handong University, bringing a compact place for reflection shaped by its hillside site and minimalistic concrete expression. The project occupies a small rise at the center of campus, a location the architect immediately recognized for its symbolic nature.

The commission emerged from a donation by an elder of a local church, and the brief invited a chapel that was both modest and purposeful. ‘The site revealed itself,’ lead architect Yoo Ehwa shares. She describes perceiving the contours of the campus as resembling a sheep, with the chosen hill forming its heart. This elevated position allows the subterranean structure to be read from surrounding buildings, with the form of its rooftop cross visible only from the sky and the interior.

images © Yongkwan Kim

meditative interiors by ITM Yooehwa Architects

A very limited budget guided the earliest decisions, leading ITM Yooehwa Architects to eliminate applied finishes and instead focus on the power of form, volume, and light. ‘We had to let meaning come from structure,’ the architect explains. This approach sharpened the emphasis on the building’s core purpose as a prayer room and allowed the design to evolve with a directness that suits the quiet atmosphere the project seeks to create.

The entrance begins at the base of the hill along a sweeping footpath. The sequence rises slowly toward the chapel, with ramps tracing the exterior to maintain a continuous connection between inner and outer experience. These circulatory elements draw from the site’s topography and shape an intentional transition from campus life into a more meditative space.

ITM Yooehwa’s prayer room is compact place for reflection shaped by its hillside site

the symbolic structure and skylight

The prayer room’s entrance maintains the dimensions of a corridor, a deliberate gesture which ITM Yooehwa employs to encourage individuals to enter in solitude. Yoo Ehwa goes on: ‘I wanted people to arrive one by one, as if preparing their hearts.‘ This scale sets the tone for the interior, where simplicity guides the spatial character.

Inside, the room stands free of columns. A cantilevered structural strategy supports the roof and reinforces the symbolic weight of the cross, which anchors the central axis. Seating is arranged to encourage horizontal awareness of the landscape beyond the long window, while a skylight above the cross introduces a vertical beam of daylight.

the prayer room’s entrance maintains the dimensions of a corridor

a prayer room sliced with sunlight

The interplay of horizontal and vertical light creates a shifting atmosphere across the prayer room’s surfaces. Sunlight entering from above draws attention to the cross throughout the day, shaping an experience that evolves with changing conditions. ‘The light gathers and traces the passage of time,’ she continues, describing an intentional engagement with daily rhythms.

This luminous register gives the space a sense of presence despite its compact footprint. ITM Yooehwa’s design frames light as a core architectural element, allowing it to express both orientation and spiritual focus. The simplicity of the envelope heightens this reading, as the absence of finishes foregrounds texture, shadow, and structure.

the rooftop is sliced with a narrow skylight in the form of a cross