Facilities

Thurston Memorial Chapel

Thurston Memorial Chapel serves as the spiritual heart of Punahou. The 500-seat chapel is used for Chapel Program services, school performances and faculty and staff meetings. The chapel area also includes a “roundhouse” classroom, an open courtyard and chaplains’ offices.

For alumni and employees, the chapel and its staff are available upon request for weddings, memorial services, blessings, baptisms and counseling.

For more information, contact:

Punahou School

1601 Punahou Street

Honolulu, HI 96822

chapel@punahou.edu

808.944.5720 Ph

Hours: Mon – Fri, 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

History

Designed by Honolulu architect Vladimir Ossipoff, Thurston Memorial Chapel was built in 1966 and appears to rise up out of Punahou’s famed Lily Pond. Formed from the natural spring “Ka Punahou” that bore the name of the lands and the school, the Lily Pond teems with life and flows both next to and under the chapel walls.

The entrance doors, made from koa wood, feature sculptured panels that were designed by Jean Charlot and crafted in copper by Evelyn Giddings. Thirty-two scenes from the life of Christ were picked from thousands of student entries, from which Charlot provided drawings. Another artist, Erica Karawina created the chapel’s stained glass.

The new Allen organ was funded in part by a grant from the McInerny Foundation in 2016.

Robert Shipman Thurston Jr. ’41
The chapel was a gift in memory of Robert Shipman Thurston Jr. ’41 by his parents. Thurston was lost on a military plane in 1945 in the Pacific area.

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Punahou School

1601 Punahou Street, Honolulu, HI 96822
808.944.5711