Photographer: Jörg Hempel Design The three-dimensional translation of the church pictogram ' a stylised white silhouette of a traditional village church ' can be seen from both the motorway and the service station. From close-up the church appears to grow out of the hillside and visitors enter it via a raised walkway leading to a covered entrance. Once inside, contrary to the expectations raised by the exterior of the building, the design of the interior comes as a surprise. The inner dome opens up to the naturally lit area around the altar, illuminated only from above through the two church spires.
The filigree wooden vaulting also displays a finely worked cross-ribbed structure. Construction The plan of the new motorway church consists of a square nave (church) with two corner towers and an access bridge from the southwest. All the outer walls are formed in timber-framed construction, with laminated timber elements used for the roof structure and the towers. The majority of the building components were constructed off site, allowing an optimised and shortened on-site assembly period, since the pre-constructed building elements had already been assembled off-site using a special connection system.
The timber roof and wall elements are cavity-insulated. The inner and outer faces of the timber members are clad with panels of OSB. The entire façade of the church and the connecting bridge was sprayed with white polyurethane damp-proofing material. Timber inner dome It all started with a two-dimensional plan, and from there it developed into a highly complex three-dimensional structure. Using parametric design techniques based on complex computer programs (Rhino, Grasshopper), schneider+schumacher's Parametrik GbR team designed a finely detailed wooden ribbed structure that optimised both the material and the construction down to the last detail.