Location: Flegessen
Competition: 2017
Client: Ev.-luth. Kirchengemeinde Flegessen
A church in Flegessen
An approach to a seemingly impossible challenge: The powerful continuance within the historical context. It is about giving the new – even absent – a strong and appropriate presence.
The required room schedule is realized within a compact, rectangular volume on the northern side of the church. Measuring roughly 20 x 5 meters, the new construction connects to the main façade of the church in the east, while it surpasses the alignment of the church here. Therefore, it presents a spatial settlement to the inconspicuous western yard, offering visitors a clear orientation.
The volume keeps a distance to the northern façade of the church, developing a 2, 50 meter gap – only interrupted by a construction from glass that presents the pathway to the church from the new construction.
The new gap is not only a distance space, but is also spatially staged by the layout of the volume. The corridor receives a glass façade that can be opened thus integrating the exterior along the north façade of the church into the concept. The corridor becomes a lively, foyer-like space inviting to communicate, dealing with the different layers of time.
The room schedule is functional and easily structured. The separation of the event space from the church is realized by a glass wall equipped with double folding doors.
The architectural language of the façade underlines the contemporary, self-confident position within the tension of the preservation of historical monuments and the question of the appropriate architectural intervention. The inviolability of the protected stone church is faced by a deferred gap and a modern façade with a metal ornament – the direct confrontation of old and new.
The metal ornament covers the entire building – except for the façade of the foyer. A symbol deriving from the cross was developed for the ornament, finding its equivalence at the printed glass walls between the church and the event space.
Only a few interventions are planned for the exterior space, continuing the simple and natural integration of the new building. The path is continued to the new volume; the parking lot is positioned at the eastern side and therefore allows for a direct access to the new volume and the sacristy.