Historic & Traditional
Adaptive Reuse of Churches
Churches are some of the world's most iconic and everlasting forms of architecture. They're also in declining use and in need of a new use in life. Here are some fun examples of churches being adapted to a new use in life.
January 26, 2012
Churches are some of the world's most (if not THE most) iconic and everlasting forms of architecture. Even though the United States is a relatively young nation, we still have our share of beautiful churches and places of worship dotting our cities and towns. Due to the rise of the automobile, declining church attendance, and probably a myriad of other reasons, however, many of these churches are closing shop and leaving some beautiful buildings left vacant. These buildings are often being purchased by some bold visionaries transforming these spaces into other uses (hence "adaptive reuse"). I. Love. This.
Regardless of anyone's religious beliefs, churches are beautiful buildings that tell a story of where we have been. To let them decay is a rather horrendous crime in my mind.
That's why it was such a pleasure while in Portland, Maine recently to stumble across a fantastic restaurant, Grace, that took a beautiful old cathedral and turned it into a pretty stunning restaurant. If you haven't been to Portland, Maine, I highly recommend it. Cute old streets, beautiful old buildings, and surprisingly stellar food. And if you go to Portland, go and check out Grace.
The owners of Grace took an original window shape and replicated it as a canopy from the bar. They re-used older material that was no longer in an appropriate location and found great new uses for it. In effect, they completely changed the use of the space while re-purposing the elements into a fresh and cohesive whole.
Here in Seattle, we are not exactly known for being religious. In fact, we are probably the least religious city in America (take a look at some census data for fun). While we didn't have as many churches to begin with, there are still some great ones in need of love. The most high profile project as of late is the Sanctuary. (The photos below are from their website – the ones I took were so miserable that they didn't do the place justice).
The old First Church of Christ on Capitol Hill was purchased and has been turned into a collection of condos for sale (they just went back on the market after some re-work and minor re-design following the real estate crash). I toured this project several years ago and thought it was pretty innovative. One of the challenges with a building like this is bringing light in and still maintaining the historic charm and features that made it a church. Turning a church into a restaurant is pretty easy compared to dividing it up into a collection of homes! I think that the Sanctuary, though, had some creative ideas including a central and interior courtyard under the dome that serves as sort of an interior backyard for the residents. Cool project and worth scheduling a visit or tour.
On the other spectrum, a friend of mine from college moved back to her hometown and purchased an older church for sale and turned it into her house. "Small Town America" is filled with lots of great little buildings that deserve to be honored and respected moving forward in a new form. These are great architectural opportunities and people purchasing them and boldly trying to find new uses for them should be applauded. A small church can be turned into a home with a great backstory. A cathedral can be turned into a rocking brewery, a restaurant, a completely insane and awesome nightclub, or a set of unique condos. All of these are so much better than a decaying shell.
Next time you walk by an old and decaying church think of the possibilities!
And in case you're interested in reading more, here is a great article on Buildpedia.
