RESURRECTION CHURCH
KEYSBOROUGH - 2015


 

Worshippers wanted this building to be a sacred space, a world of prayer and contemplative thought, a house of worship, celebration and sorrow, a place where the spiritual dimensions of life could be accessed and indulged.  The Parish began in the seventies with revolutionary ideas of worship and assembly. Openness, transparency and willingness to engage, are the original key principals that have been carried into the new Resurrection Church. Conceptually the tectonic language of the building attempts to reflect this openness and transparency. Materials and details are raw and honest reflecting its construction process. The glass and steel front facade reveals all to the public, yet once inside the massive Piza walls offer protection and security. The church axis runs east west aligning itself with the resurrection glass window in the original church. A new Resurrection glass above the entry Narthex continues this tradition where by the Parish Congregation waits in the Easter morning darkness for the first beams of light to pierce the coloured glass and re-enact the Resurrection of Christ. The new church being much larger than the original church attempts to scale itself down to the original with verandahs that slide off the main building and a tri-pronged steel/glass awning that symbolises the holy Trinity. The rusted iron cladding, both in form and colour resonate to the red brickwork and angular character of the old church. The curved iron front facade reflect the same forms used at the original entry. Finally the unashamed transparency of the original church is repeated in the new and by default include the old church within the visual experience of the new. It includes and celebrates its presence Spatially the church is one large volume with more compressed surrounding space's offering inclusive and more intimate places to participate in worship. The new church has been well received and today is loved by its community.