Description

Although part of a new estate, the church appears to stand alone in the landscape. The building is concealed and enveloped by greenery, such as one only otherwise sees in castles set in open landscape. The complex stands on a hill. The plateau is square in form and enclosed by a wall. This enclosure is, however, both defined and compromised by three objects: on the north side a low elongated building; on the south side a hump presses into the square; on the west side the church projects from the square. Only the side to the east remains free for the entrance. The larger and taller building serves as the church, the smaller lower one for other functions. There is no tower. Instead a bell hangs at one end of the low building, which from the courtyard looks like a row of almost identical houses.

With a width of 13 metres, depth of 26 metres and height of 13.2 metres at the portal side in the east and 15.5 meters at the altar side in the west, the church has the dimensions of two cubes. When the weather is good, the block made of in situ concrete with white marble aggregate has an exceptionally radiant appearance. The roof is particularly impressive. As with the Viborgvej Crematorium in Århus, built in 1967, the architect has designed the roof as a deep V-shaped incision.

Though the building has a closed appearance from the outside, the inside is surprisingly light. Daylight streams into the space in from the side walls, on the one hand through each of the 20 regularly spaced “slits”, on the other through slots left between the walls and roof. The rear wall is articulated as two leaves. Without the visitor realising it, full-height bands of clear glass have been inserted between the inner and outer leaves. In this way, the opening behind the altar – which also provides access to the sacristy in the basement – forms an element of rare brightness.

The church in Enghøj is of the processional type. Its axial symmetry, particularly the aisle leading from the portal to the altar, is emphasised by the details: for example by the roof, the rafters of which are like the hull of a ship and its beam like the keel. This 1.6 metre deep laminated beam runs down the centre of the space along its entire length, even projecting a little on the outside at both ends. Likewise, the joints in the concrete of the floor align exactly with the cross behind the altar.

The architecture is entirely orthogonal except for the angle of the roof and the kneeling rest in front of the altar. Its gentle curvature in the direction of the altar table helps believers to visualise the Communion. The contrast between the black wooden pews and black granite altar and the white walls and white floor is also stark. In front of the pastor wearing his black cassock, the rear wall appears to open, becoming the brightest­ point in the entire building. One can be quite certain: the church at Enghøj wants to show the way to the light.

Architektur und Wettbewerbe, no. 174/1998, pp. 20- | Arkitektur DK, no. 8/1995, pp. 428-, p. 478 | Dirckinck-Holmfeld, Kim: Guide to Danish Architecture 2. 1960-1995, Copenhagen 1995, p. 317 | Lind, Olaf: Jutland Architecture Guide, Copenhagen 2002, p. 162 | Lund, Nils-Ole: Arkitekt Henning Larsen, Copenhagen 1996, pp. 38-, p. 131, pp. 268-

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Originally published in: Rudolf Stegers, Sacred Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2008.