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Location:
Concord, NH
Client: South
Congregational Church
Project description:
Interior renovation after a fire caused much damage to the
Fellowship hall and kitchen.
Completion Date: Fall 2000
This
landmark brick church suffered a significant fire in early 2000.
Though the 1850’s sanctuary was just barely spared, the
turn-of-the-century chapel, fellowship hall, church offices,
classrooms, and kitchen were unusable.
The church took this “opportunity” to reassess how well
these support spaces served their current needs and decided a thorough
redesign was needed.
As
a result of our rethinking, Sunday school classes were moved
downstairs to the former dining hall.
Since the church’s era of large formal sit-down dinners had
passed, a smaller, more efficient kitchen was planned for upstairs off
the rehabilitated fellowship hall.
The church offices were relocated to be near the actual entry.
The chapel was moved to where it was possible to have it open
up on to the fellowship hall for larger events.
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Sketch proposal of future Hall |
In
the process of doing some investigative removal, we found that the
flat ceiling in the main space had been added some time in the last
century and that it had obscured a high vaulted ceiling, still nicely
finished in natural wood. This
discovery changed the direction of the project.
Following a vote by the membership at large, the restored
fellowship hall became the centerpiece of the project.
Lighting the high dark ceiling presented a challenge, as did
restoring areas where the original wood finish had been lost. Two
offices that had been later added within the volume of this room were
rebuilt so that the “roof” over them could now function as a
mezzanine for youth group and other meetings.
Building systems were overhauled, and a complete
sprinkler system was added. The
facility reopened one year after the fire, safer, more functional and
attractive than it had been.
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