Eglise du Sacré-Coeur | atelier ribo+

Project type: Reactivated architecture
Client: Paroisse du Sacré-Coeur
Site: Ginevra, CH
Year: 2020 - 2021
Area: 3'700 mq

The project intervenes on the building of more than 150 years of history of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Geneva, following the fire in the summer of 2018 that seriously compromised almost all of its building spaces.

A house of worship also constitutes a place of identity and image, capable of communicating the memory of the past and needing to be interpreted with the sensitivity and culture of our time. "Architecture carries with it the idea of the sacred ..." In a work of architecture, the first act is to draw the perimeter, distinguishing and separating the interior from the exterior. A "sacred" act isolates a new autonomous architectural reality from the infinite "macrocosm" that surrounds it. In the case of the Sacré-Coeur, the perimeter evolves upward and into the surrounding frame. Opening the roof means flooding it with natural light and at the same time connecting the spaces with the sky.

At the design level, the church preserves the original space before the fire, but in the new project it plays on a longitudinal axis where the main elements of the liturgy are located. In fact, this axis connects the main entrance with the olive tree of the Sacred Heart and the rear entrances.
In the vertical direction, an axis of light crosses the entire building; at the intersection of the horizontal and vertical axes is the crucifix.
From the main entrance you can see the connection with the Olivier du Sacré-Coeur.
Next to the church is the Olivier du Sacré-Coeur, a restaurant and bar that runs outside the building, inviting the public to enter the building. Visually, it can be connected to the church space through a glass panel.
On the lower level is the crypt space, the new centrality of the building. The perimeter porches face the central void characterized by the wooden floor and ceiling that opens towards the church and all the upper levels up to the sky.
Both the vertical connection crypt-church and the horizontal connection church-Olivier, are made through a glass panel that changes state depending on the choice of space occupation.
Level 1 collects the multi-purpose work space that has reception, waiting room, the church's own offices and rented offices. After the reception, a glass volume connects this level with the rest of the building levels and the sky.
On the top floor is the party and convention space. The concept of flexibility, present throughout the building, becomes even more evident on this level. The party room can be converted into a conference room. These spaces can be combined to form atelier rooms. The service and kitchen areas are in direct contact with access. The flexibility of the space includes the ability to store equipment on the side walls with movable panels. The presence of light and water, through the glass roof, characterizes the different possible atmospheres.