OFFICE 360

Fogo Island is a remote outport fishing community located off the northeast coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. Several scattered settlements on the island are made of clapboard houses and a number of churches, which historically served as both religious and community centres. The biggest among them, the former St. John the Evangelist Church, is to be transformed into a headquarters of the Canadian social enterprise Shorefast, and its various programs including the art residency Fogo Island Arts. The project retains the existing building, while only the roof structure is altered. The new gable roof covers the clerestory and side aisles, transforming the image of a church into that of a big house. This simple gesture had not only a symbolic effect, but helped organising the section over two levels. The ground floor plan is composed as a set of rooms along the perimeter that open to the central space, which is to be used for any local activities such as community gatherings, art exhibitions, concerts, lectures, or workshops. One of the side rooms encloses the entrance, so the former nave is entered laterally, from the main road, while the central entrance is reserved for seasonal events. Upstairs is a sequence of private offices and meeting rooms, with a view both to the central space and the surrounding landscape of the North Atlantic coastline. Additionally, an adjacent small church house will be transformed with a similar roof gesture into offices. The newly transformed church, together with the surrounding houses, forms a cluster that will both organise its surroundings and define the outdoor gathering area, as the island’s public centre of gravity.