Two and three-storey residential buildings once dominated the architectural horizon of Schwamendingen; in future, the buildings will be seven to eight storeys high. The silhouette of Saatlen church, conceived as a heroic gesture against a low horizon, will thus lose its impact. Because the religious centre around the church remains of public importance, a new height accent is important that is aligned with the future horizon. Urban densification forces a decisive differentiation between the private and public worlds. In Schwamendingen, too, today's loosely built-up neighbourhoods in the middle of a green space are giving way to large, densely packed volumes, with a few park-like open spaces left between them. Saatlen church is located in the middle of the most important of these neighbourhood parks. Whereas its public side used to be limited to Saatlenstrasse, in the future it will border on an intensively used public space on all sides.
Already today, the ground floor houses the everyday spaces of the community, while the church is located on the upper floor. In the future, these everyday spaces will be opened up much more broadly, to various faith communities, but also to the neighbourhood and, of course, the residents. The fact that the ground floor faces the park on all sides fits in with this broad address. Instead of a main entrance, there will be entrances from all sides, welcoming visitors in a low-threshold and inviting manner. Only what is in the way of the extensions will be demolished. However, various peripheral parts of the building will remain and be converted into «follies», capricious pavilions in the park or wardens' huts. They effectively break up the monumental scale in front of the tall buildings and contribute to the activation of the forecourts and park as kiosks or youth spaces.
The paths of the religious communities from the foyer to their sacred spaces are simultaneously led past each other and united by the wide, interwoven staircase. This staircase not only encourages informal encounters between the communities, it is also much more efficient than separate staircases. All paths begin in the foyer and come together again in the ballroom. In between, the movements of the individual faith communities separate, moving via «their» staircases and «their» foyers to their prayer rooms and from there via «their» entrances to the banqueting hall. However, the separation of the paths is not hermetic, as visual and path connections open up again and again between them.
