Chapel < House

I havent seen a reuse project as amazing as ZECC Architects' conversion of a Dutch chapel into a house in a long time. In today's society it is far too often a building such as this would just get torn down and replaced with a Mc Mansion. It makes me smile to know that some people see the beauty and character in these old buildings and actually reuse them to create something so unique.

The original chapel was part of a large housing complex of the Friars of Utrecht, which at its height, around the mid-20th century, housed 217 residents. The remaining 13 elderly friars, however, moved to a nursing home in 2005, and the complex was divided up and converted into about 40 apartments. Take a look at the before photo of the chapel:



ZECC took this space and created a very modern and minimalist home. I appreciate that the design team chose to keep many of the original features like the high gothic stained glass windows and the original choir organ.










holy @#*& check out those stairs!!