Location: Göttingen
Competition: 1. Prize 2016
Client: Ev.-Luth. Kirchengemeinde Göttingen
Forum Diakonie and Church in Göttingen
The Evangelical-Lutheran Parish in Göttingen organized a competition in spring 2016 for the development of the new Forum Diakonie and Church (concentrating social welfare work and church projects at one place). Located at the western side of the city center of Göttingen, the project is planned within the area of St. Mary’s Church with its community hall, the Commandry and the remainders of the medieval monastery. The territory is already in possession of the Social Welfare Work (Diakonie) and is planned to be used for a new construction with 2,500 square meters; then offering a space for the Diaconal Association, the Family Education Center, the superintendency as well as the Caritas. The aim of the competition was to design an alternative and optimized concept for the realization and master the different challenges of the area.
We were able to present this alternative concept and therefore were awarded with the first prize. We were inspired by the idea of a building ensemble as a sculpture including the features of the place into the concept. On the one hand, the urban surrounding is dominated by historic substance, on the other hand, heterogeneous new buildings can be found. The area itself unites different scales and layers of time on a relatively narrow space. Therefore, a sculptural volume was chosen to meet the different requirements and challenges.
Starting at the Commandry that is under preservation order the new two-storey volume connects to the existing building. Followed by a building of two to four floors, the ensemble is designed round the multi-storey car park ending at the pedestrian zone, altogether encircling the green space in the center.
The outdoor area is a result of the urban context. On the one hand, it is an attractive starting point towards the city; on the other hand, it presents a generously greened inner yard offering a lawn, small paths, shade-giving trees, and the possibility of different usages.
The roofscape along the edges and recesses presents the identifying image and also marks the exterior with variously different possibilities of use.
The homogenous, warm colors of the brick façade will be accentuated by wooden elements giving the ensemble a unifying but reserved impression. Many insights and outlooks let the building ensemble appear differently depending on the direction.
The requested spaces are structured according to the divergent groups and the different floors. All usages are organized appropriate to the room schedule and offer enough flexibility and space.