The second part of the material can be found here.
At a time when new churches are being actively built in Russia and a struggle for church property is flaring up, Western Europe is experiencing a cooling towards religious tradition. Due to the massive decline in the number of Christian believers over the past decade, about a thousand empty churches have been closed in the Netherlands alone, where there is no one to go to and which there is simply nothing to support. One of the most affordable ways to save these monuments from destruction today is to transfer them to their new owners and transform them into commercial and socially demanded objects. To this end, a program for the renovation of historical religious buildings has been developed and is operating in the country at the state level.
Now, under the old church vaults, you can find a hotel, library, shop, restaurant, office, apartment building, and even a skate park. The architectural form remains, but the content and function change fundamentally. From the point of view of aesthetics, everything looks very dignified - beautiful and "civilized". The ethical side of these transformations, with all the tolerance of Europeans, causes public resonance and controversy not only among believers. But the essence is important: the historically significant architectural heritage is still preserved, and in the event of changes in the spiritual mood of society, it will be easy to return to formal origins.
Project: bookstore Selexyz Dominicanenkerk Maastricht
Location: Maastricht
Workshop: Merkx + Girod www.merk-x.nl
Photo: Roos Aldershoff
The store, designed by architecture firm Merkx + Girod in a former Dominican church in Maastricht, was recently named "arguably the most beautiful bookstore in the world" by London newspaper The Guardian. The old building has not held services for a long time: at various times it was used as a bicycle parking, a boxing ring and a flower shop. The new owner needed to place 1200 m2 of retail space on the original 750 m2, for which he proposed to additionally cover the space and create another usable level. But the architects felt that this would destroy the integrity of the original interior and came up with their own version of solving the problem. A giant "bookcase-rack" with aisles for buyers is set just off the main axis, leaving the left half of the building completely open. The lightweight three-level steel structure not only solves the problem of additional usable space, but accentuates the vertical and colossal dimensions of the structure, while maintaining the original concept of the church space. In addition, by studying books along this huge bookcase, the buyer rises to the very top, where he can admire the magnificent paintings of the vaults up close.
The restaurant with a large central table in the shape of a Latin cross occupies the entire altar part of the building. It was designed by another architectural studio, SATIJNplus Architecten, which also has experience in the interior transformation of a church into a secular institution.
Project: hotel Kruisherenhotel
Location: Maastricht
Workshop: SATIJNplus Architecten
www.satijnplus.nl
Photo: Etienne van Sloun
The Gothic cathedral with the adjoining 16th century monastery complex in one of the oldest quarters of Maastricht has been in disrepair since the 1980s. At the beginning of the new millennium, the fate of buildings was worried by a major Dutch entrepreneur, hotelier and restaurateur Kamil Ostvegel, known for his love of old buildings, which he turns into fashionable hotels and restaurants. After lengthy bureaucratic litigation, he managed to get permission to transform the church and monastery into a fashionable design hotel. Inside the old walls, according to the SATIJNplus Architecten project, an architectural structure with a mezzanine, a staircase and an elevator was erected, thanks to which it was possible to place a porter's counter, a library, a restaurant, a wine bar and a conference area inside the cathedral.
Above the entrance, designed in the form of a copper tunnel, there is a glass meeting room. The semicircular chapels have been transformed into comfortable lounges under lancet arches.
The lower level of the main nave is occupied by a wine bar, and a cafe for breakfast and lunch is equipped in the mezzanine level, from where wonderful views of old Maastricht open through the huge altar windows.
A transparent lift goes upstairs to the hotel rooms, which are located on the site of monastic cells and in the former house of the gatekeeper. The guest rooms are furnished with furniture from the most famous designers, equipped with original lamps and decorated with stylish paintings and prints. All living quarters face a square courtyard with a spectacular lighting installation by Ingo Maurer. Between it and the neighboring building in the monastery garden, a modern steel and plastic transition building was erected, organically integrating it into the historical context of the existing buildings.
Project: office center Annastede
Place: Breda
Workshop: Oomen Architecten
www.oomenarchitecten.nl
Photo: René van Dongen, Rob van Esch
The Basilica of St. Anne in Breda was founded in 1902. It was designed by the son of the famous Dutch architect Peter Kuypers, author of the Rijksmuseum and Central Station in Amsterdam. The neo-Gothic annakerk is an example of a "transition period" in the iconic architecture of the Netherlands. The cathedral has long ceased to be a place of religious meetings, gradually falling into desolation. In 1992, it was transferred from the ecclesiastical authority to the municipality, with the financial support of Oomen Architects, a project for its preservation and re-use. Since 2002, the building has been called Annastede ("Anna's place").
Now inside it is a modern office center with transparent walls and graceful ceilings. The carefully thought-out multi-level structure is completely autonomous and does not contradict the historical architecture. Lightweight, barely visible structures made of glass and metal seem to float in a majestic environment. They form an almost aesthetic contrast with the monumentality of the old walls, delicately bringing out historical details and preserving the special atmosphere of the church space.
Project: private house Woonkerk XL
Location: Utrecht
Workshop: Zecc Architects
www.zecc.nl
Photo: Frank Hanswijk
The facade of the former Catholic Church of St. Jacob in Utrecht faces the city embankment and hardly stands out from the surrounding private houses. After services ceased here, the building was used as an exhibition hall for antique furniture and a concert venue. To this end, an additional mezzanine floor was erected there in the 1990s, which was an important moment during the renovation commissioned in 2007 by Zecc Architects, which is well known in the Netherlands for such projects. The church building had to be turned into a modern residence, preserving its historical basis. The architects decided to transform the old, unattractive mezzanine into a multi-level structure with large open spaces and many viewpoints. At the very top is a study room, below is a resting place and a living room with a library, and at the very bottom are bedrooms and bathrooms. Zoning occurs due to the difference in height levels and walls-partitions of different geometry with through openings for maximum light access. As a result, the entire living space looks like a spectacular modern sculpture that organically interacts with historical architecture and organizes the space.
The dining room occupies a podium in a former altar, perpendicular to which stands a laconic kitchen island. The old pews were placed along the dining table, and the lower part of the semicircular altar wall was cut through with three additional openings, one of which serves as the entrance to the picturesque courtyard.
In the event of a change in the owner and purpose of the building, such an interior can be easily adapted for a museum, library, or returned to churches - after all, the new structure does not touch historical walls, columns, arches and can be dismantled. And the old wooden floor, doors and stained-glass windows have been preserved and carefully restored.
Project: private house
Location: Rotterdam
Workshop: Ruud Visser Architects i.c.w. Peter boer
www.rvarchitectuur.nl
Photo: René de Wit
A small wooden church was built on the banks of the Rotta River in 1930, but has been used as a garage for the assembly and sale of cars for many years. At the time the building was handed over to the architects, it was in an extremely neglected state, it was completely sheathed with metal sheets and resembled a hangar. The project to turn it into a residential house for a family with two children was developed by Ruud Visser Architects in collaboration with Peter Boer. The original floor space was much larger than the average Dutch dwelling. The architects decided to create an impressive space by designing a separate house directly inside the existing building - so that you can walk around it without leaving the church, feeling the boundaries of the sacred and the everyday.
On the altar side of the old church there was a small chapel, smaller and lower than the main volume, but overlooking the river. It was replaced by a modern volume of the same shape, but a little shorter - with an all-glass wall, huge sliding doors and shutters. The new transparent façade offers a beautiful view of the river and itself becomes part of the landscape. The former church transept acts as a buffer between the outer church wall and the private home. It is designed as a spacious empty hall from where both the house and the church as a whole are clearly visible.
