Hatlehol Church

Sacral Tectonics – Dissolving Space

Client
NA

Location:
Hatlehol Norway

Year
2014

With a theme of: “Tectonic Design and Nordic Architecture”, an approach that dealt with technical as well as sensuous qualities was undertaken, in the design process of a sacral building for the new Parish of Hatlehol in Ålesund, on the west coast of Norway.

To develop a building with the spirit of nordic design and the poetic of tectonic tradition, a methodology with special focus on the context and spirit of the place, combined with a deep care of detail and structure through paramtric informed design has been utiliezed.

The challenge of designing a modern church is a task with many layers compared to the historical church where many things where dogmatically predefined. The focus has shifted from being entirely on god and the religious aspects, to now encompass a more communal
and social oriented functions. This secularization has to be expressed architecturally in a way that doesn’t compromise the sacral qualities and spirituality.
It is the intention to, in a delicate way, mediate the relation between nature (the earthbound) and the sacred (the heavenly).

Following the dynamic of the landscapes ascent, this transition is experienced in the building character, by means of transformation in light, structure, acoustic, proportion and thereby spatial atmosphere.