Church of Gallneukirchen

Umbau
2005-2007
Location: Gallneukirchen, Oberösterreich
Client: Röm.-Kath. Pfarrkirche Gallneukirchen
www.pfarre-gallneukirchen.at


During reconstruction work of the parish church both staircases constricting the entrance on the west façade were torn down and replaced by a generous projecting roof, which invites church visitors to linger. Within the church the set-back gallery opens up its tall nave; two new sets of stairs are cut precisely through the Gothic vault. The opened-up clerestory windows as well as the side aisle roof, which was lowered, contribute to even lighting conditions. Reducing the church pews keeps the space underneath the gallery clear. The people´s altar and the ambo were moved far forward into the church interior. They were cast in bronze together with the baptismal font and the holy water stoup by the VOEST. After 1945 the Voestalpine, Austria´s largest steel works, contributed considerably to the population growth of the area. The church interior has been altered and hallmarked by realigning the side altars and the paintings. The newly designed, stained glass windows around the high altar piece, the light stone floor and the reduced numbers of steps in front of the people´s altar add essentially to the transformed appearance of the carefully renovated Gothic church.