Historic Church Interior Renovation/Restoration:
Start with the Old Wood
Commentary
St Anthony Church Athens, WI
The most popular church interior decorative companies—and
many of the best-known liturgical designers—are getting it wrong when it comes
to historic sacred spaces.
The reason is relatively simple: they see the interior of
the church as their entire realm. They don't necessarily consider the original
building’s architecture, shapes, or period.
When a church decorator enters a sanctuary, they tend to see
the aspects of that sanctuary that relate directly to their trade. Thus, they
prioritize what they can provide (ie decorative paint, murals, gold leaf,
fabrics, etc.).
In an old church they tend to initially look past all the
existing old wood.
It's almost as though it isn't there.
The historic wood becomes an afterthought.
As such, the aged wood is then decorated (nearly painted) to
match their proposed decorative scheme rather than being understood as one of
the defining elements of the historic interior.
I've seen this repeatedly.
The decorative scheme is established first. Then the
historic woodwork is expected to accommodate it.
That is essentially the circumstance we've learned to
accept.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
A Different
Way of Thinking
I recently worked on a project where the priest thought
about the building in a completely different manner.
Some might refer to his way of thinking as having a
"beautiful mind," because it recognizes something that can easily be
lost in the process of renovating an old church: the building itself has
something to say.
Normally, when we come into a church project, the entire
decorative scheme has already been created. Even when we're doing a restoration
project for the pews—something that ideally would allow the historic wood to
stand on its own—we nonetheless look for ways to slightly skew the restoration
so that it has harmony with the already chosen decorative theme.
That is the circumstance we've learned to accept over time.
So when I realized that this priest was prioritizing the original
historic interior wood of his 140-year-old church before considering anything
else, at first I was incredulous.
Then I thought about it.
And it changed the way I looked at my own work.
It helped me realize that my craft didn’t have to be
subordinate.
More importantly, it helped me realize that in an historic
church, proper restoration of the historic wood can actually be where an
interior renovation can start.
The Pew Is
Different
This becomes particularly important when you consider the
church pew.
Pews occupy the ground level of the church. They exist at
the human level.
Almost every other aspect of church interior decoration is
primarily something you gaze at from a distance.
Your old pews are different.
You are literally amongst them.
You touch them. Slide across them.
You grab the wooden top rail of the pew in front of you to
help yourself stand.
You feel the wood beneath your hands.
And the sheer amount of wood present in a historic church
can be almost overwhelming.
That physical presence matters.
It's one reason that when you look at many church interior
decorating proposals, the designer's perspective is often directed upward, with
perhaps only the tops of the pews appearing in the frame.
But the pews aren't merely something occupying the bottom of
the picture.
They are one of the largest—and most tactile—elements of the
room.
They are a “humanly intimate” part of the historic church experience.
Start With
the Wood
St Mary Church Appleton, WI
The first question should be: What is already here?
Before deciding what the interior should look like, examine
what the church originally was.
If wood is the predominant element in a historic church,
perhaps that is what you lead with.
Then everything else can have continuity with it.
The result is not necessarily a recreation of the past. It
is something more subtle: an interior in which the new work respects the
existing architecture rather than competing with it.
Starting with the wood restoration changes the entire
perspective on interior decoration.
Instead of asking, "What do we want this church to look
like?" begin by asking, "What does this church already have? What can
be retained, restored, and integrated into the life of the church today?”
It is about recognizing that a historic church is not a
blank interior waiting for the next decorative trend.
It is an existing work of architecture with a long history
of worship and it’s material language should reflect that.
The goal should not be to force that building into today's
idea of what a church ought to look like.
The goal should be to create harmony with the current and
the past.
Start with the wood.
Then let everything else follow.
V Scott Beddome
church, church decorators, decoration, historic, historic church, historic church decoration, historic church renovation, Historic church restoration, liturgical design, preservation, renovation, restoration, sacred space
