CHB, Author at Church & Heritage Building

God is in the detail

Posted by CHB | Feb 18, 2020 | Blog |

An old architect friend in New York has just sent me a book he knew I’d be very keen to read. Louise Slaicek’s biography of the legendary architect I.M. Pei is over a decade old now, but it came to me on the back of the sad news that Pei has passed away, aged 102. A versatile, globe-trotting creative talent, Pei shot to international fame for reviving the Louvre in Paris with a giant glass pyramid and capturing the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. His other works...

Glasgow’s Egyptian Halls may be lost if action is not taken

Posted by CHB | Feb 13, 2020 | Heritage, Latest News |

Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s A-listed masterpiece, the Egyptian Halls, has been shortlisted by the pan-European heritage organisation, Europa Nostra, for its Seven Most Endangered programme. The former warehouse on Union Street, Glasgow has now been empty for 40 years, and this magnificent building has fallen into decay. The The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) collaborated with the Alexander Thomson Society on the application for Egyptian Halls to be shortlisted by Europa Nostra, as the window to save one of Glasgow’s most significant buildings is rapidly closing. Completed in 1872, Egyptian Halls hosted public gatherings, musical performances and...

Melbourne’s Atrium of Holy Angels Mausoleum

Posted by CHB | Jan 1, 2020 | Christian, Latest News |

The Atrium of Holy Angels Mausoleum is located in one of Melbourne’s major urban cemeteries, Fawkner Memorial Park in Sydney Road Fawkner, which is managed by the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust. The Trust commissioned Harmer Architecture to design the mausoleum as a fourth stage to the nearby Holy Angels Mausoleum complex also designed by Harmer Architecture. The mausoleum provides above ground burial for 672 people within in situ concrete crypts which are arranged on top of each other on 6 levels and in eight separate blocks located around a central landscaped courtyard. The new Atrium of Holy Angels Mausoleum...

New Apostolic Church in Lausanne, Switzerland

Posted by CHB | Dec 9, 2019 | Christian |

The extension of Lausanne’s New Apostolic Church was designed to draw out the existing building’s intrinsic qualities. We felt it was essential to follow the clear diagonal lines that underpin the organisation of its spaces and circulation flows, and which are its defining features. The new building was conceived in a way that seeks to honour and preserve its existing spatial concepts, while at the same time adding a contemporary quality of lightness and openness. The extension went in tandem with a renovation of the existing structure, so as to combine the qualities of the old with a forward-looking...

Installation at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

Posted by CHB | Nov 25, 2019 | Heritage |

Over View by FreelandBuck is a permanent site-specific ceiling installation at Museum Lab, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh’s expansion into the former Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny on Pittsburgh’s historic North Side. The installation was commissioned as part of the restoration of the historic building, which provides a new museum for older kids offering cutting-edge experiences in art tech and learning, as well as activities and spaces for a new charter school. Over View is a three-dimensional drawing of the space it occupies, the central lobby of the former Carnegie Library space, in its original state. The 34-foot x...