On April 3rd the Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST) made its move ? literally, as a procession ? from its old digs at 57 Bethune Street in the West Village to the ground floor of a Cass Gilbert landmark on West 30th Street near Herald Square. Designed by New York's Architecture Research Office (ARO), the synagogue occupies actually three floors: the ground floor, a mezzanine, and a basement. Although the synagogue's main spaces are tucked away from the street, it has a highly visible street presence thanks to large expanses of storefront glass. In other words CBST, the largest LGBTQS synagogue in the world, is out and proud, a clear change from the hidden, dark home it occupied for nearly 40 years.

ARO's design for CBST is fairly straightforward but subtly special in the right places. It's clear the budget for the 17,000-square-foot project was not high, but that did not preclude ARO from laying out the spaces to maximum effect, starting with the double-height lobby. This bright, white space gives members of the synagogue a place to socialize while clearly pointing to the main spaces: behind the wood doors straight ahead is the sanctuary; down the stairs to the left are the lower lobby, community kitchen, chapel/library, and rooms for study and teaching; to the right are the rabbinical offices, located both on the ground floor and the mezzanine.
Not surprisingly the Wine Family Sanctuary, as it's officially called, packs the most punch. Although most removed from...