Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue

Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue

This synagogue was built in 1966–1967 to designs by Derek Sharp Associates, with stained glass by John Petts. The builders were H J Paris.

Materials

The building is constructed on a reinforced concrete frame clad in russet-coloured brickwork laid in stretcher bond, with bands of soldier bond forming aprons and lintels to openings. The triple barrel vaults of the roof are clad in corrugated asbestos sheeting, with an experimental system of PVC interlocking cladding to the horizontal faces and to the internal vaults. Apart from those holding the stained glass panels, window openings generally contain timber casements with fixed sections, the majority screened by pierced brick panels made up of tessellated circles.

Plan

The synagogue stands on a corner plot at the junction of Palmeira Avenue and Eaton Road. It has a roughly rectangular footprint, with the main entrance facing east to Palmeira Avenue and a canted projection to the west containing the main stair. There are secondary stairs in the north-east and south-east corners; the building has a number of subsidiary entrances not itemised here.

The building is of four storeys set on a sloping site, with a void beneath the building to the north-west. The AJEX Centre comprises a double-height hall at lower-ground level, with single-height service rooms along the north and east sides. Above this, at ground-floor level, is the entrance concourse and offices, accessed from Palmeira Avenue. The synagogue prayer hall is a double-height space at first-floor level, with areas for overflow seating or classrooms to either side and to the back, achieving a capacity of approximately 630. At second-floor level is the former caretaker's flat, which has a mezzanine within the western end northern roof vault.

Exterior

The building is a wide brick cuboid crowned with a triple-vault roof running east–west.

The principal, eastern, elevation is composed of a wide brick facade from which rises the central second-floor section, consisting of three bays filled with the leaded glazing of the Petts windows indicating the location of the Ark, topped by the three semi-circular gable ends of the triple barrel-vaulted roof. The white PVC weatherboarding emphasises the building's distinctive silhouette. The entrance is offset beneath the north window and is protected by a semi-circular concrete canopy supported on slender metal posts. Above the door opening is a Hebrew inscription ('Sha'are Shalom') in metal letters, translated as '"Gates of Peace" Congregation'. The opening holds a pair of doors flanked by a single door to either side; all are solid timber with a relief grid of square panels, one of which is glazed in each door. To the north of the entrance is an opening, understood originally to have served as a hatch accessed from the north-east stair, but now containing a sign announcing the synagogue. Below, the foundation stone reads: 'THIS FOUNDATION STONE OF THE BRIGHTON AND HOVE NEW SYNAGOGUE WAS LAID BY RABBI ERWIN S. ROSENBLUM, ON THE 17TH JULY 1966 – 29TH TAMMUZ 5726 IN DEDICATION TO THE GLORY OF GOD'. To the south, the full-height ground-floor windows are fronted by brick screens. Further south is a plain secondary entrance. The elevation is blind at first-floor level.

The blind west elevation is defined by a canted projection containing the stair. Its central facet, laid in soldier bond, has a rectangular timber-framed casement window to each of the three upper levels. At the obtuse angles of the projection the right-angled bricks meet to create a jagged junction. A slightly detached lift tower stands adjacent to the stair projection. The gable ends of the vaulted roof rise above the parapet, as on the east elevation. The north and south elevations express the frame of the building, with upright brick-clad bay divisions, between which is screened glazing, and horizontal panels of soldier-bond brickwork. On the south elevation there are four lower-ground entrances to the AJEX Centre, fronted by a narrow terrace. On the north elevation the lower-ground and ground floors have narrow horizontal strips of windows above panels of soldier-bond brickwork in place of the screened glazing. The second-storey section, rising above these elevations, has screened clerestory glazing lighting the prayer hall.

Interior

Within the public areas of the building, use is made of simple mahogany fittings, mainly veneered, with a recessed edge detail. Doors are flush veneered with painted moulded architraves, and the beaded skirtings are painted. There are occasional fixed bookcases and display cases. Floors are generally carpeted. The building contains a number of memorial plaques and panels, the most notable of which is the dedication plaque in the entrance corridor, which reads 'LEST WE FORGET / THIS SYNAGOGUE IS DEDICATED TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND TO THE MEMORY OF THE SIX MILLION JEWS WHO PERISHED IN NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS / IN HONOUR OF THE DEAD / AN INSPIRATION TO THE LIVING.'

The entrance lobby is enclosed by glazed doors opening into the wide entrance corridor, which leads to the stair at the far end of the building. A Hebrew inscription over the glazed doors is from Psalm 118:19, translated: 'Open for me the gates of righteousness, I shall enter and thank God'. The concourse is plainly detailed, with a timber band at impost level concealing light fittings. Along the south side full-height windows overlook the AJEX Centre on the lower-ground floor, and on the north side a series of doors lead to offices and service rooms. To the west is the small synagogue, also overlooking the AJEX Centre; this contains the Ark and lectern given at the synagogue's foundation in 1955. The main stair has an angular geometric appearance, following the form of the canted west end of the building. It has a timber handrail with aluminium balusters of flat section, and a flush timber string.

The synagogue prayer hall is a double-height space entered on the first floor. The arrangement of the hall follows accepted Reform practice, with a platform at the east end combining Ark and Bimah, and seating for both men and women in rows facing east. Around the main seating area are folding timber partitions which open to provide space for additional seating; further partitions allow that space to be subdivided as classrooms. There is a choir gallery to the west, with an organ. The Ark is placed centrally on the east wall, the centre of the platform being approached by three wide steps, flanked by lecterns, one serving as Bimah, and the other as pulpit. The cuboid lecterns are faced with channelled timber, of a piece with the front of the platform, and with its ceremonial benches and chairs. A wide timber band follows the perimeter of the main hall. Towards the centre of the eastern wall this fans downwards and breaks forwards to form a setting and frame for the Ark doors. This feature also serves to accentuate the horizontal windows above, which are topped by a timber band; this band continues along the cross beams of the roof's three semi-circular vaults. The vaults are clad in the same PVC boarding as used on the exterior, and have tall screened clerestory windows beneath. The seating in the main hall is formed of timber benches of mid-century date brought from another place of worship.

The Ark is enclosed by two eleven-feet-high stained-glass doors in round-headed steel frames, together taking the shape of a Luhot (a stone representing the Tablets of the Law, usually placed above the Ark in a synagogue) which can be drawn sideways to access the Torah scrolls; in front, the Ner Tamid (perpetual lamp) is suspended. The subject of the glazing is the revelation of the Tablets of the Law: one Tablet is depicted on each door, bearing the first two words of five of the ten commandments. The tablets are depicted set on the top of Mount Sinai, represented as rocky pinnacles engulfed in flames, the whole described by Sharman Kadish as being 'in a jagged geometric style in vivid primary colours' (Kadish, 2011).

Above, the east wall is spanned by the stained-glass windows, each one composed of five panels. Kadish notes that the overall programme of the windows, indicated by the order of the festivals represented, reads from left to right, rather than from right to left, as might be expected in a Jewish worship space; Kadish has suggested that this reveals the non-Jewish background of the artist. The colour of the glass is predominantly blues and purple. In the central window bright red and orange tones break through the blue to represent the burning bush, behind which is the Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem, with a Star of David and the Crown of the Torah above. Petts's 1975 account of the windows describes the left-hand window thus: 'The Shofer [shofar] Horn, the call to prayer, the Dove of Peace, the Fruitful Vine, the sacred letter Shin, the Menorah, seven-branched candlestick, the Ram caught in a thicket, Jacob's ladder, barbed wire of bondage (the concentration camps), the Pillar of Cloud and the Pillar of Fire, the Spring from the Rock.' The barbed wire is a subtle but insistent motif, winding across the three right-hand panels, and edging into the central window. It has been suggested that the wire is shown as being broken, symbolising the liberation of the Jews from the concentration camps (Spector, East Sussex Record Office). The right-hand window represents Hebrew Festivals: the three Pilgrim Festivals – Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost) and Succot (Tabernacles) – with a central emblem of Hanukkah. Petts describes the subjects as, 'The Pasach Egg, the Cup of Elijah and fruits of the Passover Feast, the Scrolls of the Law, the Tree of Life, Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights, the Succoth booth of palm and myrtle branches at the Feast of Tabernacles (thanksgiving), broken chains of bondage (Egypt)'. Reflecting the barbed wire in the left-hand window, the chains extend across much of the right-hand composition, and into the central window. On the timber bands above the windows are Hebrew inscriptions in metal letters, translated as 'Serve the Lord with Joy' (Psalm 100:2); 'I have set the Lord before me always' (Psalm 16.8); and 'Know before whom you stand' (adaptation of the Babylonian Talmud).

The AJEX Centre is the double-height hall at lower-ground level. The south wall of the hall is almost entirely glazed, with glazed double doors and with windows above. The posts and beams of the construction are expressed, encased in plaster or in timber veneer; the floor is parquet block. There is a recessed stage to the east, above which is a panel with an abstracted Hanukiah in timber relief. Kitchens and service areas occupy single-height spaces to the north and east sides of the hall.