Pargolovo Protestantism

A Protestant church is being built in St. Petersburg by the project of SLOI architects. One of the main features of the building is a wooden roof with 25-meter spans, which, among other things, forms the interior of the prayer hall. Also, there are other interesting details – we are telling you more about them.

Written by:
Alyona Kuznetsova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

02 February 2024

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Architect:

Valentin Kogan

The community of the Apostolic Christian Church is one of the denominations of Protestantism. In St. Petersburg, the number of its adherents is about 10,000 people. Many people remember the “Rus” cinema near the Pionerskaya metro station, on the site of which the Hollywood shopping center is now being completed – it was there that divine services were held in the 1990s. Currently, the community has several houses of worship, the oldest of which is located in Pargolovo. In 2021, the community decided to build a new temple here and turned to SLOI Architects for a project. The choice in favor of the young practice, which offers the city new vectors of development, is quite consistent with the values of the reformist church.

The temple is already being built on the site of the house at 5 Baikalskaya Street, near the Pargolovo station, amongst ordinary dacha land plots. Nearby is the Orthodox wooden church of St. Joasaph of Belgorod, built on the site of a building lost back in 1938.

zooming — Apostolic Christian Church

Copyright: © SLOI Architects

The Protestant church abandoned intricate architectural symbolism in favor of simplicity, accessibility, and functionality, yet it maintains its traditions linked to its basic doctrine. The church is intentionally design to resemble an ordinary house, devoid of decorative elements and any hierarchy for the worshippers. The focus is on the preacher’s pulpit, and light becomes the primary means of expression. All of this is reflected in the concept of SLOI architects.

Valentin Kogan

In this project, we presented the building as an independent metric of space. This, in our opinion, is in line with the spirit of Protestantism, where the daily life of a person is structured rigorously enough, and prescribes significant self-organization of the individual.

The temple is a group of five identical two-story volumes, interlocked with a slight offset in the plan. As a rational urban planning technique, this solution helps to sufficiently accommodate the spaces required for the church on the land plot formed at an angle to the street. Each block has a four-pitched roof with a hidden drain, which together with the equal offset in the plan creates a rhythmic silhouette.

The five blocks of the building correspond to the five doctrines of Protestantism. Special attention is given to the ritual of baptism, with several rooms on the ground floor designated for baptisteries. Other spaces in the building can be used for various events and serving one another: holidays, weddings, concerts, and lectures, as well as creative activities for children and adults.

Apostolic Christian Church. Plan of the 1 floor

Apostolic Christian Church. Plan of the 2 floor

The prayer hall is situated on the second floor. The noteworthy feature is the roof structure made of laminated timber: a complex system of frames and slopes with 25-meter spans.

The interior of this structure is covered by a wooden panel ceiling resembling a tent canvas, alluding to the tabernacle of heaven and earth. As for the vertical frames made of CLT panels, they are left open to let more natural light in. The pulpit, located in the center of the hall, is accentuated by a cross cut into the wall, illuminated by sunlight.

Considering the absence of strict canons, it can be said that Pargolovo will soon have its regional variant of Protestant architecture. From the pulpit side, where one can observe the most complete fragment of the four-sided roof, the building resembles traditional wooden architecture. The repetition of the volume in perspective creates an effect of fractal similarity or reflection in two mirrors, which can be seen as a metaphor for the continuity of time. On the outer side, however, what we see is a modern building with a “ridge and valley” roof in the spirit of modernism, entirely made of wood – a worthy reason to visit Pargolovo.

Architect:

Valentin Kogan

02 February 2024

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