Syon Abbey - Virginia

In 2002, BRTW was contracted to create a timber frame for a small order of Benedictine monks. Located on 243 acres of farmland at the edge of Franklin County, Virginia, Syon Abbey will hold an 11,683-square-foot Gothic monastery with 2-foot-thick masonry walls, a cloistered court and a crypt.

The completed building will have a chapel, a large communal kitchen and library, outer walls clad in limestone imported from Spain, and a 65-foot bell tower with a spectacular mountaintop view. The building materials included a lightweight concrete block that can be cut with woodworking tools, and roof tiles made from recycled rubber.