Historic Church Adopted for Survivors of Domestic Violence, Captures the Attention of Retrofit Magazine

The creative re-use of an active historic church to provide affordable, supportive housing for women and children survivors of domestic violence was featured on the “Inspiration” page of RETROFIT magazine’s latest issue.

The First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, originally constructed in 1812, lost much of its interior in a 1971 fire set by the abuser of a woman who was seeking sanctuary in the church. This tragedy inspired the renovations that repurposed part of the church into a haven with affordable housing units, while creating a smaller sanctuary and cultural center for the congregation to gather and worship.
The church had struggled with a declining congregation and an aging facility requiring extensive and expensive maintenance on an annual basis. In lieu of abandoning their roots, the decision was made by the congregation to investigate alternative uses for the church that would be consistent with their mission and desire to be of service to the community. The adaptive re-use of this building allowed the congregation to have a source of income to maintain the historic structure, and not let it fall into disrepair, or worst case, be demolished.
The main part of the sanctuary was deep enough to divide into three floors of housing — two two-bedroom units, one one-bedroom unit and seven efficiency apartments — plus shared program space. A community gathering space on the first-floor features four original wood columns supporting the balcony and second floor, and a smaller sanctuary/cultural center built from the original balcony is located on the second floor with ample natural light emanating from four large circle-head windows on the north-to-south sides.