Acoustic roller blinds, acoustic curtains and acoustic slats make it possible
The former church building was built in 1927 and is a listed building. After the desecration in 2007, i.e. the end of its use as a church, the impressive concrete building with a clinker façade was converted into a "multifunctional house" for cultural events, conferences and seminars. A great challenge - especially the acoustics were optimized for the long reverberation times typical of churches. Here, the general contractor Tüchler had to combine various acoustic measures made of different textiles so that concerts with up to 700 visitors could take place as planned.
The creative scene has long since discovered Bochumer Straße in Gelsenkirchen, where they have taken advantage of the opportunities offered by vacancies and low rents: small galleries have opened, graphic designers are working together in co-working spaces in old shops and a modern pub scene is slowly growing. In the middle of it all, the Church of the Holy Cross towers over things – a phenomenal model of brick expressionism. With the parable as its basic form, which is repeated many times in the church, it is considered the most important work by Josef Franke. In the uniform 19-metre-high interior, a parabolic barrel vault rests on belt arches. The expressionist vault painting in the nave with verses of the Vexilla regis and gold-colored crosses on a blue-green background is impressive – a work by Andreas Ballin.
The conversion with all its challenges
TÜCHLER was responsible for the design, manufacture and installation of all blackout and noise-reducing measures. The mammoth project has been supported since the beginning of April 2020 and handed over in July 2021.
Acoustic roller blinds as blackout systems
The beautiful stained glass windows have been preserved: At events, they are darkened with TÜCHLER acoustic roller blinds made of the satin "SunSat 2016": At the same time, you benefit from the perfect acoustic properties for reverberation reduction AND a degree of darkening of 98 percent. The side guides ensure that no light can pass through the windows between the curtain and the wall.
One challenge was the geological peculiarity: the entire church building is tilted by a few degrees - due to coal mining, the building often happens because the subsoil is not stable. The 6.5-metre-high roller blinds have been fitted with special glides that compensate for this inclination and ensure that the fabrics are wrapped straight.
Acoustic curtains made of acoustic velour Lehar
In the 24.5-metre-high church tower, which is located directly above the stage, as well as in the area of the gallery with portal window, the strongly damping stage and acoustic velour "Lehar" shows what it can do: Its strongly reverberation-reducing properties have made it possible to completely dampen the intense reverb due to its incredible height. In front of the arched glass window in the portal, the curtains are opened and closed electrically (TÜCHLER curtain actuator UNIVERSAL RS 3P on the curtain rail TT2 were used here).
Acoustic slats and glazing strip blinds for the surrounding glass partition walls and entrance doors
Both sides of the main nave have been glazed: they can be clad with acoustically effective lamellar fabric using modern electric louvre systems. The glass doors were fitted with electric glazing strip blinds. With closed roller blinds and slats, an intimate, clear ambience is created here. At the same time, the reverberant and thus sound-reflecting glass surface is concealed and reverberation times are drastically reduced.
Curtain rails and curtain pulls
Acoustic curtains, which are also used to darken the room, were also installed in two smaller auditoriums: they can be easily moved manually via project curtain rails. In the large auditorium, the blackout and acoustic curtain consisting of two parts, each 16x9 meters, is moved by a curtain drive type "Universal".
Control
All drives can be controlled and operated centrally. Here, a KNX control by means of a touch screen is used, which leaves no wishes, pardon, no curtain open.
About the Projekt
user: Emschertainment GmbH, Gelsenkirchen
architec: pbs architekten, Planungsgesellschaft mbH, Aachen
reconstruction: TÜCHLER Deutschland GmbH, Recklinghausen
