Sint-Cornelius
Repurposing of the parish church – Integration of a library, classrooms and a sacral space
The ‘raison d’être’ of church buildings lies in their religious origin.
In the last decades this origin has been questioned and challenged, but the buildings remain untouched. As sacral spaces, they have been built both for and by the community.
These buildings, that occupy a prominent place in the urban landscape, challenge us. The main challenge is to give these buildings a new meaning. Today, the search for meaning in our spatial environment is more important than ever. Our personal identity is no longer strictly linked to the places we inhabit (under the church tower), but it goes through a process of individual expression. We move criss-cross the urban fabric and give meaning to the places we encounter along the way.
We strongly believe there is an important role for church buildings in the process of making sense. We see a new connecting role, in which churches can mediate between individual and collective.
Our ambition in the repurposing of the church building goes way beyond the mere adding of new functions to a building. We focus on new meanings, with a connecting character for all generations.
The art of painting of the late 16th – early 17th century offers an interesting frame of reference. Painters of the Holland and Antwerp school offer us a view inside church interiors of that time, with everyday life in a sublime decorum.
We perceive strong architectural spaces, public interiors were all kinds of activities take place: children playing, dogs on the loose, people chatting, mothers nursing their babies, … but also masses, surmons, baptisms, weddings and funerals. The everyday and the sacred come together in an intriguing way. We want to cherish these spatial experiences and find new forms of combining sacred and everyday today.
In the aftermath of the masterplan for the future of 25 churches in Kortrijk, we convinced the city to revise the planned realocation of the public services in Aalbeke. The church building as a possible host for community services was reconsidered.
In a new masterplan we foresaw the redevelopment of the church, in connection with the refurbishment and extension of the existing meeting centre, at the other side of Aalbekeplaats. A bipolar concept on the scale of the village, as part of a new public area in Aalbeke.
We appreciate the spaciousness of the church, a basilica building with three naves: a central narrow high nave and two lower broad naves on the sides. They shape a huge roof, that is omnipresent in the image of the village.
The design combines a reduced liturgical space for eighty people, with a music school and a library, allowing the space to acquire new value for all generations. What was once the setting for baptisms, weddings and funerals takes on a new meaning in the community and will be associated with new memories.
To accommodate these new guests the church had to be divided, with high acoustic demands for the partition walls (music!). The special cross-section is used as the starting point for the division of the church. In the central nave we introduce a multipurpose hall. This foyer doesn't have a specific function and none of the programs will claim it exclusively.
The foyer will be used in various ways: a reading room for the library, a waiting room for children of the music school, a concert or lecture hall, a foyer where people can chat with and have a drink after a mass, … It's a dynamic meeting place in the middle of the village, generous and full of life.
A high transverse wall forms a clear boundary with the new sacral space, inserted in the former choir. A big round window offers spatial continuity. The design of the partition walls between the naves, seeks for a maximum preservation of the existing spatial qualities.
The width of the church space can still be felt using interior windows in the upper parts of the partition walls. Visitors in the central nave can still admire the colourful stained glass windows, which were donated to the church community, by families and pastors in the early 1900s.
Limited architectural interventions in the roof and facade bring daylight deep into the church and make the repurposing also readable for passers-by. The gates of the former main entrance are permanently opened, an invitation to enter the repurposed church space.
Subtle new facade openings open the church to the urban environment and offer a view into the renovated church spaces. Under one of the stained glass windows in the library, a low doorway leads to a sunny reading terrace in the church garden, the former graveyard. In the lay out of the garden the existing slope is provided with concrete elements, that enable the terrace to function as a small exterior stage.
St-Cornelius is the patron saint of the church in Aalbeke. Until today, the village is known for the worship of St-Cornelius. St-Cornil, a well known restaurant at Aalbekeplaats and the St Corneliusfeesten have both their name taken from the holy man. The saint is a symbol for the idea of a new role for the church, a new meaning in the community.
St Cornelius once more becomes the face of Aalbeke, not only in a religious context but also as the mascot of the village. The new church space can be used for small and larger celebrations, but is also a quiet place, a retreat in the centre of the village. The church has its own entrance, passing by a low antichambre before entering the high sacral space of the former choir. It allows people to enter this space of silence and reflection anonymously.
In addition to the new forms of community experience, religion will have a permanent place in the village.
