MVRDV to Transform Dutch Church into Swimming Pool “Holy Water”

Influential Dutch studio MVRDV has been chosen to radically renovate a disused church. The previous place of worship is being remodeled right into a public swimming pool, full with a movable flooring that lets guests “stroll on water.”

With tongue firmly in cheek, MVRDV has named the challenge Holy Water, and it is being created in collaboration with Zecc Architecten. It should remake the 100-year-old St. Francis of Assisi Church in Heerlen, the Netherlands, which has been out of use since 2023.

It is an formidable endeavor and can contain eradicating the present flooring to make means for the pool. The pews might be reused by incorporating them into each seating for swimmers and bar tables for spectators. The outdated pulpit, in the meantime, might be a seat for a lifeguard. As talked about, an adjustable flooring can even be put in. This may permit the pool for use as an occasions area.

“An adjustable swimming pool flooring brings flexibility to the area that was as soon as the church’s nave, permitting it to host quite a lot of actions along with swimming,” explains MVRDV. “The ground additionally makes it attainable to fill all the area with a skinny layer of water, creating a powerful reflection of the church that provides guests the sensation that they’ll stroll on water.”

A brand new mosaic flooring will adorn each the pool environment and the adjustable pool flooring, nodding to the stained-glass home windows that can stay, whereas new lighting might be added that’s sympathetic to the unique church design. The renders additionally depict the organ pipes and non secular work being left in situ, which is a pleasant contact.

One main problem is find out how to shield the outdated wooden and stained glass, and so on, from the humidity. To unravel this, MVRDV and Zecc Architecten are including glass partitions across the pool, enclosing it. The roof of the church might be insulated too, to enhance its total thermal efficiency.

The challenge is predicted to be accomplished in 2027 and entails different collaborators IMd Raadgevende Ingenieurs, Nelissen Ingenieursbureau and SkaaL. MVRDV appears to have a real ardour for this kind of adaptive reuse challenge and others it has designed embody the Tainan Spring and Pyramid of Tirana.

Supply: MVRDV