The Community Church in Knarvik stands on a hilltop located on the scenic west coast of Norway. Designed by architects from Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter, it is an outstanding example of a contemporary sacred building.
Sharp geometric shape of the church resembling a star was inspired by the surrounding landscape. The wooden uniformity of the building is broken by regularly spaced vertical glass panes. Vertical glazing combined with pine conveys a contemporary feel to the interior of the church.
The vertical windows are made entirely of triple glazed insulating glass units Pilkington
Insulight™ Protect Triple. For the best insulation, energy-efficient Pilkington
Optitherm™ S3 was used, which allowed to achieve U
g value of 0.7 W/m²K. High-performance insulating glass available in large format allows designers to achieve the desired visual effect while maintaining a comfortable indoor temperature, even in winter.
Due to the church's high ceilings that reach up to 5 meters the glass must be safe for building users. The full height floor to ceiling insulating glass units are made of laminated glass, Pilkington
Optilam™ Clear, with a thickness of 10.4 mm and 8.8 mm in combination with laminated low emissivity glass, Pilkington
Optilam™ Therm S3, with a thickness of 8.4 mm. The total thickness of IGU in some places is up to 47 mm.
Photography: © Hundven-Clements Photography
www.hundven-clements.com