Rider Architects / New Apostolic Church Dresden

Climate-friendly place of worship

The ClimaLevel Multiboden has not only proven itself in residential and office buildings, but also impresses in museum and church buildings with its outstanding cooling, heating and ventilation properties. Over the past eight years, ClimaLevel GmbH has equipped a total of 15 buildings throughout Germany with the innovative system for the New Apostolic Church. A very special project was recently completed in Dresden: an all-round sustainable building – from the materials used to the use of renewable energy.

Shrinking congregations – new churches
Church membership is shrinking and the shortage of priests is steadily increasing. More and more municipalities are having to merge – with more than just negative consequences. The New Apostolic Church makes a virtue out of necessity. Whereas congregational life previously often took place in uninviting premises in backyards or converted buildings, the merged congregations now have “proper”, attractively designed churches. The New Apostolic Church of Northern and Eastern Germany alone is investing a total of 20 million euros in the construction of new churches. Great importance is attached to sustainability – not only an ethical decision for the church, but also an economic one. The climate-friendly approach reduces the maintenance costs for the buildings many times over.

A view of heaven
The new church building of the New Apostolic congregation of Dresden South is a particularly successful example. It was designed by Reiter Architekten, Dresden, a firm specializing in ecological and energy-saving construction, which has made a name for itself as a pioneer of the
passive house standards and realized the first family house in Saxony to passive house standard in 2000. Reiter Architekten designed a timber building with an impressive stacked board vault for the municipality. As easily as the roof dome swings upwards, its realization was complicated for everyone involved. A 3D specialist with architectural expertise and the necessary knowledge for the planning and visualization of buildings curved in any three-dimensional space supported the architects in the implementation of the design ideas. “In the past, a massive church was built according to the motto ‘A strong fortress is our God’,” explains the award-winning architect Olaf Reiter. “But the church is not something static, it is constantly changing. Faith also has to change again and again.” This conviction is expressed in the tent-shaped architecture of the building. The circular church room with space for around 120 parishioners is deliberately kept simple. The only decoration is the four-meter-high ribbon window. The colored glazing was designed by glass artist Tobias Kammerer from Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg. A striking skylight provides a view of the sky. As the times of day and seasons change, the incident light moves through the room and, together with the stained glass windows, creates an ever-changing atmosphere.

Sustainable energy efficiency
“We don’t just want to talk about preserving creation, we want to play an active part in it,” explains project manager Björn Seldte. Only natural materials such as wood, clay, straw and reed as well as recycled glass were used for the new church building in Dresden. Heating is provided by a heat pump powered by renewable energy. The ClimaLevel Multiboden, which here as in the other church buildings is only designed for the heating and ventilation functions, makes a significant contribution to the building’s energy efficiency. It is the perfect complement to heat pump heating. As a surface heating system, it only requires lower flow temperatures. Its advantage over conventional underfloor heating systems is its ability to react quickly due to the integrated air flow – an additional increase in efficiency, especially in the case of a church with limited usage times. In addition, it supplies the 250 square meter church interior with fresh air at a pleasant temperature, with the supply air volume flow rate
(1,200 m3/h) is adapted to the respective number of worshippers.

Further new buildings in Taucha and Zwickau
In December 2022, the new church building was handed over to the congregation and consecrated in a festive service. At the same time, further modern places of worship of the New Apostolic Church of Northern and Eastern Germany are currently being built in Taucha near Leipzig and in Zwickau. Again with the participation of ClimaLevel Multiboden. “We are proud that our system has proven its performance and efficiency even under the special requirements of sacred buildings,” says Uwe Kemmer, Managing Director of ClimaLevel GmbH.