The Christuskirche in Reutlingen is the second-largest Protestant church after the Marienkirche. However, it has become too large for the church community’s current needs. Therefore, there is a plan to expand the use of Christuskirche Reutlingen into a diaconal centre through appropriate modifications and additional buildings. Our design aims to enhance historical church sites of urban significance by enriching their uses, keeping them economically viable and preserving them as valuable focal points of urban society and making them fit for the future, while appreciating their status as listed monuments.
The church’s exterior appearance remains unchanged, and it is complemented at the rear by three individual houses, the scale of which complements the nearby residential buildings. The house in the middle directly relates to the axis of the church nave, accommodating public facilities of the deaconry on the ground floor. The two flanking houses open up and connect the centre to its surroundings through their staggered arrangement. The wooden ensemble aims to express the necessary respect for the church while being distinct and powerful enough to engage in a dialogue with it.
