Photo: De Morgenster

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De Morgenster
1999-2000 / Architectenbureau Jonkman Klinkhamer

Seinstraat 2, Hilversum

In 2000, a modern Samen-op-weg church was opened on the Seinstraat, designed by the architectural firm Jonkman Klinkhamer from Amersfoort. The church was built on the former Philips site in Hilversum-East. The differently shaped building parts and bright white facade give the building a monumental appearance.

Samen-op-weg

In many places in the nineties of the last century, various Reformed and Reformed congregations joined together churches under the name Samen-op-weg. In Hilversum, the Reformed congregation and the Reformed Church decided, because of the high costs and the declining number of churchgoers, to divest four of their seven churches and to build two new modern churches in their place. These became the Regenboogkerk on Nassaulaan and De Morgenster on Seinstraat.

Former Philips site

De Morgenster was built as part of the redevelopment of the former Philips site in Hilversum-East. At this location, the foundations were laid for the Dutch Broadcasting Company in the early 1920s with the construction of factories and offices for the Dutch Signal Equipment Factory (NSF), later Philips Telecommunications Industry (PTI). In the 1990s, Philips left the site and the various factory halls and outbuildings were demolished. The Seinhorst shopping center, homes and the new church were built on the site.

Design

The plot on which the church was to be built was limited in size. The architect therefore laid the foundation of the building, which is half in the ground. An oval substructure contains the ancillary spaces of the church, such as a meeting room, meeting rooms, silence center, kitchen and office. Alternating windows enliven the facade of the substructure. The rectangular church hall protrudes from the substructure. The characteristic narrow vertical light openings illuminate the room. What is special about the church hall is that the church seats are placed slightly ascending in a theater set-up. Both the church hall and the downstairs areas are directly accessible from ground level.

Architecturalfirm Jonkman Klinkhamer

Several designs by the architectural firm Jonkman Klinkhamer by Heleen Jonkman and Jim Klinkhamer can be found in Hilversum. They were responsible for the redevelopment into apartment complexes of the former St. Joseph Church on Pelikaanstraat and the former domestic science school Maria Goretti (now Villa Pampedia) on Larenseweg and for a new complex with single-family homes and apartments on Noordse Bosje in the center of the city. In 2013, the office merged with TenBrasWestinga architecture / interior and urban design in Amersfoort.