38 WALMER ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH lemayFLDWRK x TAS URBAN METAMORPHOSIS 2021
team: Andrew King, Julia Pascutto, Gaston Fernandez location: TORONTO
FLDWRK led research and design-oriented exercises through the drivers of Space, Community, and Legacy to explore how a historic church knitted into the Annex of Toronto can once again be an asset to the community.
We asked the following questions: How can we re-purpose the Church as a vibrant, sustainable and viable community asset? How can this asset function at the many scales in which it operates?
Three propositions, Immersion, Fragments and Radical Inclusion, bring forward ideas to future investors, heritage committee and partners as a part of the first phase of the project exploration.
IMMERSION emphasizes the Walmer Church’s celebration of music and its power to bring a community together. Music can celebrate a broader community rather than its traditional focus on the congregation. Spaces are programmed to be flexible, with performance areas that can serve as lecture space, breakout space and congregating spaces.
The existing sanctuary becomes an inclusive hub, that is open to all people. It can welcome new possibilities taking design considerations from diverse community workshops to ensure feedback is threaded into the programming of its future use.
FRAGMENTS is a journey through the existing historical elements of the Church and its new program pieces. The new program facilitates healing experiences through the wellness centre and authoring hub. These spaces generate moments of reflection and introspection while allowing for appreciation of the Church’s historic details and features.
RADICAL INCLUSION The idea is to create a new Sustainability Hub for education on different subjects, from agriculture to architecture. The hub looks to educate and communicate ideas about science and sustainability.