Architectural firm buys church building
The postwar St. Joseph’s Church in Roeselare was built in 1950-1951 to the design of Kortrijk architect Maurice Allaert. After 64 years of service, due to the decline in church attendance, the church was withdrawn from worship. When the architectural firm, which was incidentally looking for a permanent home, was told that the church would be up for sale, they seized their opportunity to convince those involved of their idea. After two years of negotiations with the city, diocese, church administration…. they agreed: the church could be transformed into offices for three architects as well as a multifunctional space. The latter would allow the property to fulfill a social function that would add value to the surrounding neighborhood. In 2018, the sale was sealed and two years later, threearchitects opened the renovated church building.
Interventions respecting the individuality of the building and its heritage
Driearchitecten’ s vision is that the church should remain a “Church,” this is reflected in the architectural approach: three austere openings have been created in the massive volume of the entrance porch. These openings make the connection between church and surroundings. They seem to have always been there. Inside, authentic church elements have also been handled with great care. The preserved monumental organ, the confessionals, the stained-glass windows, the marble altar shelf on the entrance desk, the crucifix in the choir of the church, the original entrance doors recovered in the toilets, the holy water barrel still discreetly present: they are part of the whole in a casual way. The necessary techniques: heating, lighting and acoustics are also functional and incorporated in simplicity.
Office space and multi-purpose use under one roof
The building program that threearchitects integrated into St. Joseph’s Church is twofold: on the one hand, office space for the architectural firm in the choir and nave during office hours, and on the other hand, a multipurpose meeting space in the nave outside office hours, including all necessary functional facilities such as toilets and kitchen facilities. The office area is shielded by a wooden choir fence, so that numerous evening and weekend activities can take place in the polyvalent space: baptisms and weddings, yoga classes, lectures, exhibitions, choir rehearsals, cheese and wine evenings, fashion shows…
In this way, in addition to its office function, the church regains a function as a meeting place for the local community, as a venue for socio-cultural and public events.
Would you like to organize your own activity in this converted church?
