Innovative Jewish Center Designed by Landau Zinder Celebrates Grand Opening, Serves an Evolving Community

Landau Zinder Architecture, experts in leading-edge, sustainable design for synagogue and Jewish worship-study spaces, have announced the completion of work and grand opening of the Yakov & Hava Telyas Chabad Jewish Center in Clinton, New Jersey. Combining learning environments and community amenities with a sunlit sanctuary for worship, the innovative community center will serve as the new home for the activities and education programs of Chabad of Hunterdon County and host regular worship services for Central New Jersey’s Jewish community at large.

Constructed over the past two years on a 10-acre site, the 17,000-square-foot Telyas Center features classrooms for pre-kindergarten, Hebrew school and adult education, plus an outdoor learning space and a playground, serving dozens of students and their families daily. According to architect Joshua Zinder, AIA, LEED AP, who led the design effort for Landau Zinder, the soaring volume of the sanctuary accommodates up to 150 congregants for worship services.

The Telyas Center also includes meeting rooms, offices, a kosher kitchen, a youth lounge, a combined library and media room, and parking for more than 70 cars, according to Zinder.

“A core principle of Landau Zinder’s approach is the belief that good design can strengthen and grow communities and contribute to the long-term financial stability of worship groups,” said Zinder, also the managing partner of Princeton-based global architecture and interiors firm JZA+D and immediate past-president of AIA-New Jersey. “The Telyas Chabad Jewish Center represents the best of our methods combined, and we expect it to be an active, dynamic hub of Jewish life in Hunterdon County for decades.”

The building’s notably modern exterior incorporates materials and finishes that harmonize with the surrounding context, such as fieldstone, glass and a resilient rainscreen façade designed for beauty and durability. Inside, congregants and community members enjoy a soaring sanctuary volume drenched in natural daylight through full-height glass walls. The Center’s other welcoming and inspiring settings are elegantly appointed with natural wood and stone, illuminated by a combination of natural daylight from clerestory windows and high-efficiency LED fixtures.

“This is the beginning of a new and exciting era for the community,” said Rabbi Eli Kornfeld, who co-founded Chabad of Hunterdon County with his wife, Rachel, in 2004. “This state-of-the-art center will allow Chabad better to serve our ever- expanding portfolio of community-wide programs and events.”