Wednesday
Feb222012
The church's work
Wed, 22 Feb 2012 
Another church conversion to add to our comprehensive "what to do with an old church or what not to do" list. This reuse of church space as office space can be found in Brisbane. ( I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. I used to drive past it all the time.) Mowbraytown Presbyterian Church built in 1885 and redesigned (or is that adaptively re-used) by Base Architecture.
Reader Comments (12)
That's blasphemous. From the corporate carpeting to the echo of every conversation. Those poor workers.
I'm from Romania. Here, no matter how old a church is, is NEVER converted to another purpose or use. They are all preserved and used in the sense of their primary purpose. Definitely there is a big cultural difference between Eastern Europe and Australia, Eastern Europe being known for it's religiousness. I've seen many church conversions on this site and each of them made me shiver. Of, course, I'm not blaming anyone, that's just a fact.
Thank you for the amazing blog of yours that makes my mornings!
Bravo. I am in awe of what they've done with the place. I'm guessing the alternative would have been a pile of rubble and historic brick. I applaud this group for the preservation and creativity to boot!
I love your blog! Also great stores for me to repost on my fan page. Keep up the excellent work!!!
Jo, I used to do ballet classes as a child in the church hall which was right next door. The church has not been a church for a very long time. It was in disrepair when I was a kid, so I think the fact the building is saved no matter what its purpose is a good thing. The church hall has a cool coffee shop out the front too.
Can you imagine the comments if you ever showed pictures of the old monastery nightclub???!
Magnifique travail. J'aimerais beaucoup travailler dans un édifice comme celui-ci.
this is just plain gorgeous.... dream to live/work in a place like this!
Better the church was not left to rot to the ground: Good there was someone who invested the time and capitol
There is nothing wrong with "re-purposing" a building and this was done beautifully !
Love it. Really, if people don't like this sort of thing, the only real solution is to start saving your pennies and buy old churches as they come on the market. That's really the only way anyone's opinion of an interior renovation matters.
I love church conversions, and here is why:
A church is not the building but the people. The Israelites had 'church' in tents for hundreds of years. Church conversions are gorgeous re-uses of space that had careful time put into the architecture. Bravo! I love it!
I wonder if the beautiful stained glass windows in the boardroom remind staff to act in a honourable way...a reminder of who's watching;) I really like this conversion.
The building looks somewhat small from the outside but the interior seems quite large. I think its a great idea to re-purpose old buildings that would otherwise be left empty and abandoned.
I thought that was a church. Why do they do that?