KURUKULLA CENTER FOR
TIBETAN BUDDHIST STUDIES
Medford, Massachusetts

with Mark Mulligan

A group of Tibetan Buddhists purchased a large 19th-century house and carriage barn to use as a meditation and study center. The house and 1960s addition had been used as a nursing home. The property was in poor condition and required significant changes to suit the needs of the new owners. We worked with the group to develop a master plan and schematic design.

The program includes a prayer hall (gompa), library, meeting rooms, and living quarters for the resident lama and his assistants. The large lot, bounded by streets front and rear, allows us to re-orient the entrance to the north of the property through a prayer garden with chorten (stupa) and off-street parking. The carriage house is converted to a community activity space and is linked to the main house with a terrace for public gathering.

The main house is renovated for meeting rooms and kitchen on the ground floor with lama's quarters above.

The 1960s addition is removed and replaced with a prayer hall and library to serve as the new spiritual center. The roof of the library is an outdoor retreat for the lama's quarters, as seen on Tibetan monasteries we have visited in Ladakh and McLeod Ganj in Dharamsala, India. Natural light is brought into the center of the gompa in indirect ways from above. The design is elemental, understanding that the group would bring in many religious objects to adorn the space.

The Dalai Lama blessed the project during his visit to Boston in 2003.