Regentessekerk

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

CHURCH BUILDING (Regentessekerk) for the Dutch Protestants' Association was built in 1931 by architect Klosters on the Regentesselaan near the Oranjepark. The building was erected in a businesslike style, with expressionistic influences.

The church succeeded an older building, constructed in 1883 on the same spot, which was built during the period when Apeldoorn and in particular the villa district De Parken began to grow rapidly in size. Around 1900 the Dutch Reformed parish of Apeldoorn and Het Loo numbered approximately 10,000 members. Within the community were various groups of dissenters, who did not feel at home within the Dutch Reformed church. Splinter groups emerged but received no hearing from the church council until 1930. There arose a great need for church premises of their own, preferably within reach of the members themselves. Thus the reformed congregations established themselves in, among other places, the Noorderkerk on the Piet Joubertstraat and the Dutch Protestants' Association found accommodation in 1883 on the Middellaan (now Regentesselaan) in the midst of the villas of the wealthy. The old, extremely simple church of the Dutch Protestants' Association on the Regentesselaan served for almost half a century, when in the early 1930s a decision was made to build a new, more spacious church. The "first stone" from the old church was re-mortared into the new church as a reminder of the first church. The text reads: "First stone laid by Rev. J. Hoekstra 5 April 1883". The first stone of the new church bears the text: "1st stone laid 9 Sept. 1931 by the chairman Rev. J.W.T. van Konijnenburg". Around the church is a gravel-surfaced yard with a small strip along the church gables planted with shrubs and conifers.

Description

The church has a rectangular floor plan with a narrower built-out rectangular porch space against the front facade facing the street and at the rear a slightly lower rectangular extension, in which the ancillary rooms are housed. All building components (porch extension, church and rear extension) are provided with their own steep gabled roof, covered with purple glazed Gothic tiles. Furthermore, all individual parts are provided with brick spout gable-shaped roof peaks, with a projecting roll moulding beneath the roof panels. The roofs have wooden gutters with overhang and profiled wooden fascia boards. The church space itself has buttresses against the side facades, which project inward once and are provided with brick offsets. In these side facades, over four bays (second through fifth bay) coupled roof peaks are thrust through the gutter line with saddle-roof-shaped pendent gables to the main pitch. On the front, on the ridge of the church roof, there is a small tower with a rectangular constricted base, clad with red plastic tiles with a copper-faced steeply constricted four-sided spire rising from a broad square base that projects significantly in relation to the base. The church is provided with a high plinth, mortared in red/brown brick in Flemish bond, with above it brickwork in yellow brick, also mortared in Flemish bond. The windows of the church are executed in steel (painted blue) with leaded glass fillings. The FRONT FACADE has a porch extension, closed off by a round arch partly incorporated in a roof peak. This porch has step-wise receding reveals and brick corner pilasters with white-painted list capitals on which the outer arch rests. The outer arch has white-painted decorative stones and keystone. The porch has a door frame with round-arch closure, furnished with double panel doors and a semi-circular fanlight with fan-shaped glazing bar pattern. Above the arch is the name REGENTESSEKERK in metal letters. In both side facades of the porch extension there is a sandstone "first stone" and further a small round-arch window with steel frame. The front facade of the church space has three small round-arch windows with steel frames and leaded glass on either side of the porch extension and in the high roof peak above the porch extension three round-arch windows with steel frames and leaded glass. The central window is taller than both flanking windows (drawn through both below and above). The RIGHT SIDE FACADE of the church has in the first bay (internally serving as a bay separated from the actual church space containing ancillary rooms and singers' gallery) a broad rectangular three-light frame with three steel casement windows with leaded glass. Above this window are three coupled round-arch relieving arches in the brickwork. The LEFT SIDE FACADE has in this first bay three high-placed coupled small round-arch windows with steel frames with leaded glass. The four succeeding bays of both side facades each have a stepped three-light window with steel frames with fine leaded glass. The arches of the window tops of these windows are incorporated in the spout gable-shaped roof peak that crowns each of these bays. The sixth, and also the last bay of the church has in both side facades three low, coupled round-arch windows with steel frames and leaded glass. The rear extension has in the left side facade two broad rectangular windows with three-light frames to which later modifications have been made. The right side facade has a symmetrically arranged facade with in the central axis a door with single-glazed fanlight (door is more recent) with on either side of the door a narrow tall window with single-glazed frame and single-glazed fanlight. On either side of these are two small, high-placed windows with a cloister frame and single-glazed windows. Against this rear extension there is also a rectangular extension with flat roof. The INTERIOR of the church consists of a large hall space with white-plastered walls, covered with a so-called exposed roof truss structure. This visible roof truss structure consists of five dark grey-painted wooden timber trusses, which at the side facades are caught in steel shoes which rest on massive plastered profiled brackets. The trusses consist of two upper beams meeting at the ridge, on which both roof planes with purlins and vertically placed roof boards rest and two lower beams, which cross each other in the middle and subsequently connect to the upper beams. Between the lower and upper beams V-shaped braces are placed, while from the ridge a tie is drawn down to beneath the crossing of the lower beams. The beams are executed as laminated trusses. In both roof planes four pendent gables directed towards the roof peaks of the side facades are set back, also with purlins and boards. The wall between the first bay and the church space has below three rectangular door openings. The middle opening is wide with rounded reveals and has a double panel door. The two openings on either side of this are narrower and have a panel door in a profiled frame with list. Above these doors is the wooden cantilever closed balustrade with panels of the gallery. This gallery is open to the church space. The side walls of this gallery project inward once significantly, whereby the space of this gallery at the front facade is narrower than on the side of the church space. In the narrower part a door is included in both side walls. The three-light window of the roof peak of the front facade of the church, for lighting the gallery, is visible from the church space and has fine leaded glass windows with coloured flower and leaf motifs in the lower part of the windows. The triplet windows of the church space also have leaded glass windows by glazier H.G. Bokhorst from Deventer. He signed the central window of the triplet of the second bay in the left side facade of the church. This window also bears the signature of the glazier who restored the windows (rest. '88 - C.J. v.d. Wees - Deventer). The Bokhorst windows are in stylistic terms to be described as Art-Deco glass. Also at the triplet windows in the side facades of the church space the lower part of the windows in particular is provided with glass in dark colours with decorative motifs and a symbolic or Biblical representation in grisaille glass. The upper part of these windows has predominantly plain glass with a border in yellow glass. The grisaille panels have representations of Evangelist symbols, Christian values (including faith, hope and love), Christ symbols and biblical passages (including Matthew 3.13.17 and Luke 2.120). The valuable ensemble is still complete. The partition wall between the church space and the rear extension has a passageway with panel door on left and right. On the side of the church space there is further between these two passages the centrally positioned pulpit in plain wood with a canopy and panels. Above this the wall has three large round-arch openings, of which the central one is taller and wider than the two flanking openings and filled with pipework of the (non-protected) organ. In the space further plain wooden pew blocks and an (also non-protected) cabinet organ with panels, scrollwork and fold-out panel doors for closing off the pipework. The communion table is more recent.

Valuation

CHURCH BUILDING FROM 1931

- Of architectural historical value as a church building (hall church) in a businesslike style with expressionistic foundation. The church has a very striking distinctive building mass, composed of building components of different heights and sizes, in which the steep gabled roofs with pointed roof peaks play an important role. The church space itself is further emphasized by a small tower on the ridge. The striking, colourful use of materials (yellow brick on a red plinth, with purple glazed tiles) gives the building extra presence. The design by architect Klosters contains windows by glazier H.G. Bokhorst. These windows also have art historical value. The roof truss structure of the building is also striking. The exterior together with the still original interior forms a valuable whole that is characteristic of the time of its creation.

- Of urban planning value as part of the villa district De Parken. The building plays an important role through its striking building mass and colourful appearance in the still largely present historical street scene there, among high-quality villa architecture. The property forms in combination with the many private and public green elements an important part of this district.

- Of cultural historical value as a reminder of the pluriformity of the Dutch Reformed community. Beginning in 1883 on this site as a church of the Dutch Protestants' Association and later home of the liberal-minded, splinter groups of the Dutch Reformed church of Apeldoorn and Het Loo, which after a turbulent history and numerous conversations drew closer together again.