De Petrus Vught

December 1, 2023 In Libraries

The St. Pieter catholic church in Vught, the Netherlands, was built between 1881 and 1884 to replace a straw-roofed 14th century chapel. Carl Weber, a prolific Dutch architect with German origins, departed from the Neo-Gothic churches he had designed so far to give St. Pieter a combination of Neo-Romanesque and Rheinland Gothic elements.

Interior of a brick church converted to a library with rows of contemporary bookshelves contrasting with the church interior.
DePetrus combines the public library, local museum, community centre (complete with pool tables), a café and a small shop.
Interior of a brick church converted to a library with rows of contemporary bookshelves contrasting with the church interior. Flags are hanging from a curved mezzanine wrapping around the space.
Thanks to this transformation, the St. Pieter church continues to connect the Vught community through a variety of activities.

The original plan called for a symmetrical building around an octagonal stone dome, however partway through construction, part of the church collapsed due to faulty mortar and the design was subsequently lightened and simplified. In particular, a wood tower was built to replace the original dome.

Interior of a brick church converted to a library with rows of contemporary bookshelves contrasting with the church interior. Flags are hanging from a curved mezzanine wrapping around the space.
A mezzanine wraps around three sides of the nave, connecting offices and activity rooms on the second floor.

As it now stands, the church takes the shape of a basilica, with a central nave flanked by two narrower aisles. Either ends of the short transept ends in a three-part cloverleaf ambulatory, a design that is mirrored in the apse. A gallery surrounds the nave, with murals by Vught master painter Charles Grips.

Interior of a brick church converted to a library, with rows of modern shelving on rails. A computer workstation sits in the foreground. A patron is moving between two rows of shelves, blurred by motion.
All furniture is on rails and can be quickly moved aside to turn the space into a multipurpose event hall.

In 2005, the church was closed to the public due to falling debris from the roof. It was saved from demolition by a group of business owners and concerned citizens, who in 2011 established a nonprofit tasked with its preservation and renaissance as a cultural centre. A first renovation was completed in 2012 to stabilize the building, but it’s only in 2018 that it was truly reborn as the meeting place De Petrus, combining the public library, local museum, a social enterprise shop and a café, all the while remaining available as a multipurpose event venue.

Interior of a brick church converted to a library with rows of contemporary bookshelves contrasting with the church interior. In the foreground are café tables and chairs. Flags are hanging from a curved mezzanine wrapping around the space.
The apse was turned into a café that extends to a contemporary extension outside the church.

Bookshelves and museum showcases are all mounted on rails and can be moved aside within a matter of minutes to open up the floor. This successful conversion led by Molenaar & Bol & VanDillen Architects, now Buro Kade together with interior designer Jean-David Hanrath, brought international attention to the project.

Interior of a brick church converted to a library with rows of contemporary bookshelves contrasting with the church interior. Flags are hanging from a curved mezzanine wrapping around the space.
The flags hanging from the mezzanine were part of an exhibit for the 50th anniversary of the Vught Museum in 2023.
Interior of a brick church converted to a library with rows of contemporary bookshelves contrasting with the church interior. Flags are hanging from a curved mezzanine wrapping around the space.
They represent communities and corporations in Vught and neighbouring towns.

The images show here date from my visit in September 2023.

This post is part of a series on adaptive reuse in libraries. See the list of such projects I am maintaining or view other posts in this series.

Exterior of a brick Neo-Romanesque church on an overcast day. A café under a curving roof stands in the foreground.
The roof of the café is the continuation of the meandering curves of the mezzanine.

Excerpts from this post appeared in the March 2024 edition of Information Professional.

References

798093 DePetrus Vught 1 apa 50 creator asc title 14515 https://thomasguignard.photo/wp-content/plugins/zotpress/
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Francisca González, M. (2018, April 16). Library, Museum and Community Center 'De Petrus' / Molenaar&Bol&vanDillen Architects. ArchDaily.
Karl-Johnson, G. (2021). Excursion: Other Examples of Church Buildings' Reuse. In P. Hauke, K. Latimer, & R. Niess (Eds.), New Libraries in Old Buildings - Creative Reuse (pp. 331–333). De Gruyter Saur.
DePetrus Vught in a nutshell. (2018). DePetrus.
Vught, Heuvel 2 - Petrus (1884 - 2005). (n.d.). In Reliwiki. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
Vught (NB): St. Petruskerk (C.Weber, 1881-1884). (n.d.). Archimon. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
De Petrus - Projectoverzicht. (n.d.). Buro Kade. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
De Petrus – Vught. (2018). Hanrath Architect.



Content note

Library detail pages are primarily a place for me to collect information I gather on the libraries I visit, and are frequently updated. None of this should be considered authoritative, I am not an architect, nor a historian. If you notice something incorrect, please let me know!



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A symmetrical courtyard with a central statue and fountain, surrounded by neatly trimmed trees, leads to a yellow two-story building with arched windows, a clock, and a gabled roof under a partly cloudy sky.
Biblioteca dell’Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio
June 5, 2025
A large, light yellow and orange building with multiple floors stands at the center, featuring a courtyard with outdoor seating, umbrellas, and parked motorcycles; hills and clear sky are visible in the background.
La Filanda, Mendrisio
June 5, 2025