Recycled Religious Buildings New uses—ranging from a climbing center to a bookstore—transform historic houses of worship.

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Recycled Religious Buildings
ron nyren
When changing demographics, declining rates by adapting them for new uses, whether by provid-
New uses—ranging from of observance, or economic forces cause a religious ing multifamily housing or by hosting cultural, retail,
a climbing center to a facility to go dark, a vital resource is lost. Because recreational, or nonprofit functions—all of which also
the buildings often have long histories and significant bring people together.
bookstore—transform architecture, demolishing them furthers the erasure.
Around the globe, however, organizations and Ron nyRen is a freelance architecture and urban design writer based in the
historic houses of worship. individuals have found ways to save these structures San Francisco Bay Area.

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AnAliA nAnni Dimit
1. Brownstones at Derbyshire
CLeveLanD HeigHts, oHio
Nicknamed the “Red Door Church,” the 1930s Gothic-style First English architects restored historic details such as oak woodwork and
Lutheran Church of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, became vacant when the limestone masonry and preserved original stained-glass windows.
congregants disbanded in 2002. Local developer Derbyshire Partners, LLC, The project also included the addition of three new one-bedroom
acquired the property and brought in GSI Architects of Cleveland, with carriage-house units over a series of enclosed garages as well
Scott M. Dimit as project designer, to transform the site into multifamily as 12 townhouses organized around courtyards (above left). In
residences. With the insertion of two upper floors, the church itself now memory of the old church building’s distinctive feature, all of the
contains five vertical townhouses (above right). Wherever possible, the entry doors in the development are painted red.

3. 2. Glebe Lofts
toronto, ontario, CanaDa
In Toronto’s residential neighborhood of Riverdale, the Riverdale
Presbyterian Church started out in a 1912 building designed by
Toronto architect J. Wilson Gray. As the congregation grew, the
church added an expansion to the south in 1920. In more recent
years, however, that growth has reversed, so the congregation
reverted to the original structure and sold the newer portion to
local developer Mitchell & Associates.
The interior of the red brick Gothic Revival structure was divided
into 32 condominiums. Each unit has at least two stories and a
private balcony, garden, or rooftop terrace. On the third level, the
original vaulted ceilings and exposed ceiling trusses remain, com-
plemented by new skylights. Parking is placed underground, and
a subway stop is close by. The project was completed in 2003.
AlAn ADAms

4. 3. Josaphat Arts Hall
CLeveLanD, oHio
Paintings and sculpture are now on view in the former nave of the 1915 Saint
Josaphat Catholic Church. The parish moved out in 1998, unable to finance
the continued upkeep of the deteriorating structure. Local art gallery owner
Alenka Banco purchased the building in 2001 and renamed it the Josaphat
Arts Hall. Located in the St. Clair–Superior neighborhood close to Cleveland’s
downtown, the edifice required extensive restoration, including installation of
a new roof, repair of the ceiling and woodwork, addition of new landscaping
and lighting, and replacement of the front doors.
Opened in 2005, Banco’s Convivium33 gallery showcases the work of
northern Ohio artists. Spaces that once served as the nunnery and the rec-
tory are now leased out as arts business studios, which hold classes and
JosAphAt Arts hAll
workshops. Appropriately enough, one of the businesses is a stained-glass
designer. Banco also rents out the nave for community and private events,
such as wedding receptions, fundraisers, and nonprofit functions.

5. 4. Kolumba, Art Museum of the Archdiocese of Cologne
CoLogne, germany
During World War II, bombs destroyed almost all of Cologne’s historic city
center, including most of the Gothic Saint Kolumba Church. In the 1950s,
the Archdiocese of Cologne transformed the church’s ruins into a memorial
garden. When archaeologists unearthed Roman, Gothic, and medieval ruins
on the site, a roof was added to shield them from the elements.
Seeking a better protective solution—and a place to house a collection
of religious art ranging from antiquity to contemporary times—the archdio-
cese commissioned Atelier Zumthor of Haldenstein, Switzerland, to design a
museum that would incorporate the ruins. Zumthor built the facility on the
same ground plan as the Saint Kolumba Church, integrating the old walls
into new ones of gray brick.
A band of open brickwork lets light, air, and street noise filter into the
tall-ceilinged ground-floor space, which encloses the older ruins as well as a
chapel built during the 1950s. The two floors above the ground level contain
hélène Binet
exhibition rooms. The project was completed in 2007.

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5. Manchester Climbing Centre
manCHester, engLanD
A group of local mountain climbers, including well-known competition climber John
Dunne, were looking for a place to establish a climbing center in Manchester, England.
They found a home in the vacant 19th-century Saint Benedict’s Church in the city’s
district of Ardwick, which the Diocese of Manchester had declared redundant in 2002
because of low numbers of parishioners. An emergency grant from English Heritage,
the U.K. government’s statutory adviser
on the historic environment, helped
fund repairs to the roof and leadwork.
The Manchester Climbing Centre
opened in 2005 as one of Europe’s largest
climbing centers. Its high vaulted ceiling
allowed for the installation of a climbing
wall 66 feet (20 m) tall. Because the
edifice is listed on the English Heritage
Buildings at Risk register, all alterations
had to be reversible, so the climbing
wall is freestanding. A café and climbing
equipment store occupy the mezzanine
DAviD simmonite
DAviD simmonite
level. The center also leases a meeting/
activity room to community and chari-
table groups.

7. 6. Mason Lofts
oak Park, iLLinois
In 1906, a congregation of Presbyterians built a
small church in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chi-
cago. Twenty years later, the congregation erected
a larger church on the same lot. The smaller build-
ing eventually went on to house a Masonic lodge
for more than three decades until the late 1980s,
when it became vacant and remained so for a
dozen years. Then local resident Peter Robinson
purchased the structure and obtained a zoning
variance to reconfigure it into four residential units
with underground parking.
Architect David Seglin of HSP/Ltd. in Chicago
added a mezzanine level, skylights, and roof
terrace gardens. Reinforcing the ground level’s
subfloor beams enabled excavation to create
underground parking for six cars. Other work
includes roof and exterior wall repairs. To provide
sufficient insulation without disrupting the historic
facades, interior storm windows were discreetly
tucked behind the original windows, which were
DAviD A. seglin
restored. The project was completed in 2004. The
site’s larger 1920s church currently hosts services
for Our Lady Immaculate Church.

8. 7. Mill Residences
baLmain, new soUtH waLes, aUstraLia
In Balmain, a suburb of Sydney, the 1908 MacNeil Memorial Presbyterian Church
occupies the site of the area’s last mill. Much of the church’s interior was remodeled
during the 1960s to house a child care center. In 2007, local developer Ganellen Pty.
Ltd. and Baker Kavanagh Architects of Sydney
completed a project to strip the interior back
to its original fabric, insert two apartments,
and add two new terraced houses (left).
The designers restored the facades to the
east, west, and south, which are visible to
the street. Because the existing leadlight
windows did not permit views, large glazed
openings were cut into the north-facing roof
to discreetly bring in natural light and views
of the sky and to facilitate natural ventila-
©richArD powers photogrApher
©richArD powers photogrApher
tion. The units located within focus around
internal courtyards. Placed at the other end
of the block from the church, the new ter-
raced houses have a contemporary aesthetic
of steel, glass, and masonry to contrast with
the historic structure.

9. 8. National Center for the
Preservation of Democracy
Los angeLes, CaLifornia
The Nishi Hompa Hongwanji Temple in downtown
Los Angeles has a layered history: built in 1925,
the Buddhist temple originally served as a reli-
gious, cultural, and social center for the city’s Little
Tokyo neighborhood. The facility’s ornate architec-
ture incorporates elements of a Japanese temple
with Middle Eastern influences. Later, the building
was put to use as a staging area during the intern-
ment of Japanese Americans in 1942. In 1987, the
Japanese American National Museum took up
residence; 12 years later, it expanded into a new
adjoining structure.
The National Center for the Preservation of
Democracy, a nonprofit institution affiliated with
the museum, opened in the former temple in 2005
with the goal of fostering education and dialogue
about democracy. Local firm Levin & Associates
Architects adapted the historic spaces to house
exhibitions and workshops and designed an addi-
tion that includes a new main entrance and the
tom Bonner
200-seat Democracy Forum. Clad in metal and
glass curtain wall, the addition provides a con-
temporary contrast to the historic structure while
emphasizing transparency and accessibility.

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9. Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore
maastriCHt, tHe netHerLanDs
In Maastricht, the Netherlands, a 13th-century Dominican
church is now a bookstore. Since the late 18th century, the
structure had served various secular purposes, such as a
bicycle storage space, city archive, and annual carnival loca-
tion, until the Boekhandels Groep Nederland (BGN), head-
quartered in Houten, the Netherlands, initiated the idea to
transform it into a bookstore. Architecture firm Merkx+Girod of
Amsterdam, which had already designed two bookstores for
BGN, was asked to redesign the church interior and provide
13,000 square feet (1,200 sq m) of retail space. The catch:
the building offered only 8,100 square feet (750 sq m) of floor
area. Instead of adding a second floor, which would have
diminished the architectural quality of the space, the designers
inserted a stand-alone, multilevel, walk-in bookcase along the
right side of the nave. Stairs and an elevator allow browsers to s AlDershoff/merkx+giroD
reach the higher shelves and to view the architecture and the
ceiling paintings dating back as far as the 1300s. The bookstore
was completed in 2007.

11. 10. Union Project
PittsbUrgH, PennsyLvania
The turn-of-the-century Union Baptist Church at the intersection of Pittsburgh’s High-
land Park and East Liberty neighborhoods had seen better days: there were holes in
the roof and almost all of the stained-glass windows were broken. But 11 young Men-
nonites participating in a voluntary service program saw potential for the building to
once again serve as a community resource. In 2001, they formed a nonprofit organiza-
tion called the Union Project. With a design grant from the Community Design Center
of Pittsburgh, the Union Project and the Highland Park Community Development Cor-
poration brought in local firm Desmone &
Associates Architects to develop a plan to
renovate the structure to provide offices,
meeting and performance space, and
artist studios.
In addition to renting space for com-
munity use, the building hosts a produc-
tion pottery company employing high
school youth as well as a café that trains
youth aging out of foster care. Repairing
the stained glass would have cost an
estimated $1 million, so the organization
offered stained-glass restoration classes,
with volunteers learning skills while
ion proJect stAff
repairing the church windows. UL
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