Hotel Restaurant The Church

The former Lutheran church and sexton’s house on Spoorwegstraat in Arnhem were built in 1895 in Neo-Gothic style to a design by A.R. Freem. After being sold by the Lutheran congregation in 2017, the complex was given a new future as a hotel and restaurant. 

Alongside the renovation, the exterior of the listed monument was restored, including the replacement of asbestos slate roofing. The church is constructed from modest materials such as brick and softwood, yet richly decorated with stone and wood carvings and layered ornamental paintwork. 

These qualities align naturally with the chosen South Mediterranean and Oriental atmosphere. Key historic elements, including the monumental chandelier, barrel vault and consistory room, have been carefully preserved and visually enhanced. 

Designers were commissioned to develop a total concept encompassing architecture, interior and product design. Core principles included restoring the original spatial layout, minimizing physical intervention in the monument, maintaining sightlines and openness, and reusing original church materials wherever possible. 

Due to urban constraints, the main entrance was relocated to a narrow rear passage on Van Muylwijkstraat, reinforcing the Medina-like character of the project. After consultation with heritage authorities, a passage through the former apse was approved, based on the building’s new non-religious function. 

The hotel rooms are positioned on columns, detached from the historic walls, allowing the church volume to remain fully legible. Structural interventions are minimal and reversible. Each room is placed close to the painted barrel vault and features a skylight above the bed, offering direct views of the historic ceiling. Glass walls provide visual connections to the monumental chandelier and restaurant below. Acoustic ceilings beneath the rooms control reverberation within the church space. Rooms are designed as compact boutique hotel units, with all functions combined into one spatial volume. Bathrooms link adjacent rooms, creating visual depth despite limited floor area. The toilet is partially screened and integrated efficiently to preserve spatial openness. 

The restaurant is organized into multiple hospitality zones, including bar, café, lounge, communal tables, high dining and a chef’s table located in the tower vestibule. Almost all furniture and fixtures were specifically designed for this project. Original choir pews in the apse have been repurposed as small retail niches for food products and accessories. Old church pews were carefully dismantled and transformed into chairs, bar stools, wall cladding, headboards and other interior elements. A recurring corbel grid motif, originally designed for the steel columns, reappears throughout furniture, lighting and accessories. 

The color scheme is derived directly from the original church decorations, with four colors applied consistently, each room finished in a single tone. 

The adjoining sexton’s house was adapted into hotel rooms, retaining its original layout with central staircase and generous landings. Monumental ceilings were preserved, while new concrete floors on Lewis decking were introduced to meet fire safety requirements. An accessible room with adapted facilities is located on the ground floor. The intervention preserves the church as a spatial whole. Former churchgoers have remarked that the building now appears larger and more legible than before, while its architectural and decorative qualities have become accessible to a broader public.