Award
Priisnagel, Architekturauszeichnungen Kanton Solothurn 2019, Award
The parish church and the parish centre belong together and form a denominational unit. Through the parallel positioning of the parish centre to the church makes this unity visible from an urban planning perspective. The cemetery is now respected as a place of peace and receives a uniformly quiet finish to the north by the closed facade of the new parish centre. The existing funeral parlour can be inconspicuously integrated into the ensemble by including common building heights. Should it have to be renewed in the future, its integration into the new building concept of the parish centre as an extension of the western outdoor area is very well possible. • The architectural concept for the new building of the parish centre is rested upon the basic idea of spatially connecting all important areas and linking them with the outside space in order to give an architectural and atmospheric expression to the thought of being together as a community. From this follows that all rooms can be arranged on a common level and can be flexibly connected together. Open spaces and paths which flow into one another come into life with a strong reference to the outside space. This structure of rooms, paths and green areas are held together by two distinctive roofs under which the activities and functions are gathered. With an elongated glass ridge turret the special significance of the fellowship hall is made visible to the outside world by day and night. Two flanking exterior areas in front of the new building provide room for festive activities (extension of the fellowship hall) or for outdoor games and lessons (workroom and youth area). With the distribution of the building volumes, their proportions, the formal shaping and materialisation of the roof the new parish centre refers to the identity of its stractural surroundings. • The new parish centre in Kriegstetten is an open house that is related to its exterior space and its architectural environment. The existing pathways to the church, the cemetery and the funeral parlour will be integrated into the pathways of the new building. The previously planned new axes across the cemetery will be abandoned. The main access is via an entrance in Grundmattstrasse, which leads into the interior and from there opens up a clear view of the Church of St. Mauritius. There is a side entrance for visitors as well, who choose to walk along the existing paths of the cemetery after the church service. To the right and left of the entrance there are also some views across the outdoor spaces into the green. The foyer serves as an internal distributor from which the different functional areas can be separated or connected. On the right hand side is the fellowship hall with kitchen, store room and a classroom, where on the left hand side there are two further classrooms and secondary rooms. The floor plan organisation is simple and flexible: towards the cemetery all adjoining rooms and service rooms are accommodated in the form of a long clasp. The classrooms and the hall are oriented towards the entrance side and towards the green spaces and outdoor areas.