Reconnecting the Jacobuskerk

Reconnecting the Jacobuskerk: The library as a community center in Winterswijk

Bier, Marloes (TU Delft Architecture and the Built Environment; TU Delft Heritage & Design)

Zijlstra, H. (mentor)
Koopman, F.W.A. (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Heritage & Architecture

KaDEr research project

2020-06-22

The Jacobuskerk is the Catholic church of Winterswijk. It is located in the center, at the Misterstraat. The church was built in 1869 after a Neogothical design by H.J. Wennekers. It was enlarged in the 1950’s to house the increasing number of Catholics in Winterswijk, after a design by B.J. Koldewey in the Delftse school style. Most valuable are the Neogothical architecture, the combination of construction periods and its location in the center of Winterswijk. Nowadays the amount of people using this church is diminishing. So, new connections need to be sought with Winterswijk in a new function and future proof redesign, to make it again the community center it used to be. With this, the values of the Jacobuskerk and the history of libraries, that has always been related to churches, are taken into account. The open areas surrounding the Jacobuskerk and the park on the north side are connected by a grid formed by the Jacobuskerk, Raadhuis and Burgemeesterswoning. South of the Jacobuskerk the square in front of the church is a resting place along the Misterstraat, with a café in the rectory and a terrace. On the west of the church is the workshop building and a partly covered outside space for reading or studying; and on the east side is a quiet enclosed garden. In the church the library is located in the aisles, three floors high. With this intervention it is possible to experience the church from different heights, and get close to parts of the building that are always far away, like the vaulted ceiling and the windows. The choir stays intact to show that the building is a church and to make personal prayer possible. The transept is part of the library but on Sundays, a service will be held there. This reconnects the Jacobuskerk with Winterswijk.

heritage & Architecture
Reuse
Church architecture
library
Redesign

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7a891c9f-ef29-4447-be64-10c34ea913bb

51.971569, 6.718258

Student theses

master thesis

© 2020 Marloes Bier