Detail of the project ed. 2016

christchurch-north-methodist-church / Dal­man Architecture

Design­er  Richard Dalman
Loca­tion  18 Chapel Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Design Team  

Dal­man Archi­tec­ture Ltd
Project Direc­tor: Richard Dalman
Lead Archi­tect: Szy­mon Gozdzikowski
Archi­tec­tur­al Tech­ni­cian: Stephen Ducrot
Year  2016
Pho­to credits  

Stephen Good­e­nough

Pho­to external

Project descrip­tion

Christchurch North Methodist Church

The Christchurch North Methodist Church replaces the orig­i­nal church demol­ished due to dam­age sus­tained in the Can­ter­bury Earthquakes. 

The min­i­mal­is­tic approach to the wor­ship space design both inside and out has pro­vid­ed a strong sim­ple form that speaks of its wor­ship space func­tion, pro­vides a con­tem­pla­tive space and has enabled the church to be con­struct­ed with­in the very lim­it­ed budget.

The main entrance is from the qui­et Chapel Street, with the church open­ing out to the local neigh­bour­hood. It is strong in its expres­sion, invit­ing the user into the trans­par­ent foy­er. This area is open and invit­ing, encour­ag­ing all to come in and feel wel­comed inside.

The Wor­ship Hall is ori­en­tat­ed towards the con­tem­pla­tive east gar­dens with ear­ly morn­ing sun­light fil­tered through green­ery on the site bound­ary. The gar­den, will enhance the atmos­phere of a wor­ship space when viewed from within.

The ancil­lary spaces are locat­ed on the oth­er side of the main entrance.

From the south, the Wor­ship Hall is screened from Hare­wood Road by a wall of select­ed open­ing spaces. Lim­it­ed height and depth of the Wor­ship Hall open­ings pre­vents exces­sive sun­light in the interior.

The cor­ner tow­er acknowl­edges the spire of the old church that was a local landmark.

Richard Chalklen, Parish Coun­cil Con­venor says “The Christchurch North Methodist Parish want­ed to express ele­ments of who we are and our Chris­t­ian mis­sion to the com­mu­ni­ty in the design of our new facil­i­ties. Dal­man Archi­tec­ture respond­ed to this chal­lenge by design­ing a build­ing that express­es the essence of being a church, open and trans­par­ent, invit­ing, prac­ti­cal and ver­sa­tile. Our con­gre­ga­tion is excit­ed by this stun­ning design as it has exceed­ed our expec­ta­tions in so many ways.”

Illus­tra­tive project report
Down­load report

Pho­to internal

Tech­ni­cal drawings

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