Parish Centre Radebeul
The Lutherkirche in Radebeul, together with its parsonages, the Karl May Museum and the Ehrenhain memorial garden, forms a historic ensemble in the turn-of-the-century quarter on Karl-May-Straße. As the congregation grew, the need arose for a parish hall dedicated to encounter and communal life — without impairing the church's impact as a solitary landmark. The new building inserts itself as a restrained volume between these existing structures, leaving the Lutherkirche its presence as a freestanding building.
The community house is connected to the church via a passage through the plinth level. Within the church interior, a stair-and-lift core with a glazed screen is inserted beneath the gallery. This earth-covered link preserves the historic route encircling the church.
The large parish hall faces north with its long side toward the Ehrenhain memorial garden, while the rooms to the south are oriented toward an enclosed courtyard — a special outdoor space for quiet moments.
The new building is a masonry structure with a green roof; the roof of the raised parish hall is a timber construction with metal roofing. The large-format façade openings are designed as storey-height window elements in oak, and the same elements are used internally for the room partitions.
The colour blend of the brickwork references the different stone colours of the church. As the new building sits within the plinth zone of the church, it picks up not only the red tones of the bricks but also the muted tones of the natural stone elements at the church base.
All in all, the result is a restrained, materially homogeneous building that subordinates itself to the historic ensemble and leaves the church its impact as a landmark — while creating spaces for life and encounter: the light-filled parish hall opening toward the Ehrenhain, and the sheltered courtyard as a place of calm and security. In the warm materiality of brick and oak, the congregation finds a place of belonging. The earth-covered link with stairs and lift makes the house accessible to all and at the same time preserves the historic route around the church. Thus the ensemble becomes an open house at the heart of the neighbourhood.
