Architects: Christ & Gantenbein.
Location: London, UK.
Year: 2010.
Photographs: Hélène Binet.
The Victorian architect George John Vulliamy built the original Swiss Chapel for the expatriate Swiss community in London in 1855. An intervention aimed at doubling this Grade II-listed building’s functional surface required dismantling the existing organ gallery and finding a form that fulfilled the functional requirements. Three new floors provide 90 square meters of additional space, with a built-in elevator connecting all levels and two rhomboidal columns that complete the structural scheme. The internal façade endows the church space’s subtle proportions with an unexpected depth, with a paravent-like screen composed of three different reflection-grade glass panes held by an oak timber structure. The inserted architecture’s clear autonomy fully respects the existing space by retaining its complete integrity and by clearly contrasting the two architectures.
