Pastorale

archipelontwerpers

• Architects

A sustainable transformation of the Pastor van Ars church in Delft , almost finished.
The Pastoor van Ars church was built in 1957. The round building has a closed brickwork facade.
Above the purely circular church hall, the roof is formed by a concrete dome. The church was empty for the past ten years and new destinations proved to be unattainable.

photo_credit Courtesy Of Archipelontwerpers — Courtesy Of Archipelontwerpers

Based on this reality, architect Eric Vreedenburgh has developed a special plan in which the church construction is transformed into 16 homes and given a second life. The dome and the walls are removed, leaving an autonomous circular concrete colonnade. 10 houses are placed within this spatial construction. 5 houses will be built on the site of the old parsonage building. And a detached villa is situated in the back of the deep garden.

The green character of the environment is enhanced by the transparent structure of the new housing block within the autonomous colonnade.

The entire project is built practically energy-neutral (using heat pumps and heat exchangers, the construction acquires a new life as a carrier for the solar cells that are placed on top) and through a entangled building process (dry assembly, empty casco pipe of steel frame construction and the application by Cable Stud), the project anticipates a circular construction and use process.

In addition to all functionality, it is also about the value and meaning of this special place. The canal with its many trees makes this location look like a pastoral one: an idyllic spot on the water. But also a pastoral in the sense of the composer Strawinsky as "a song without words" as a metaphor for closing the church. The function of the church disappears, but the song and thus the memory of the place remains. By removing the existing gloomy facade, the building is opened like
an oyster and the pearl of the structure hidden inside becomes visible.