Church tomorrow

In the old town centre of Feuerbach, the current community centre next to the listed St. Mauritius Church is being expanded to meet future needs. The sensitive combination of existing and new buildings is creating a community centre that is open both internally and externally, and clearly shows this.

The copper-covered Baroque spire of Feuerbach Town Church rises prominently above the old town houses on a small hill. Here, visitors will soon be welcomed by an inviting, open-plan parish hall on a tree-lined square. Where today a compact extension building from the 1970s with an additional annex forms the community centre, the parish is working with the IBA to develop a place that will create a sense of identity for the urban community: the winning design of the two-phase invitation-only competition frees up the historic church by demolishing the intermediate building and continues the existing structure in a multi-layered way using natural materials. A wooden skeleton construction with glass elements envelops the gutted and carefully supplemented concrete structure like a transparent second skin and, together with the existing building, forms a variety of meeting spaces. When parishioners and guests drink coffee in the airy foyer by the green churchyard or look down from the upper gallery through the coloured art glass windows into the vaulted hall, the church can be experienced from new perspectives – climate-friendly, communal and open to the future.

Facts and Figures

Kontakt

Project initiator

Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Feuerbach

Heike Schaefer
Freelance Architect Dipl.-Ing.
Burghaldenweg 28, 70469 Stuttgart
heike.schaefer@archmod.de

IBA’27 Project manager

Grazyna Adamzcyk-Arns

Aerial View