Norwegian Church Arts Centre

Norwegian Church Arts Centre

A small building in the rural Gothic style typical of village churches in Norway. The structure is T-shaped with an intersecting roof, comprising a gabled east-west range and a shorter south-facing range with a canted end. A bell tower stands on the west side at the junction of the two axes.

The exterior features horizontal ship lap timber cladding painted white, with door and window frames picked out in black, beneath a black metal roof. A black brick base incorporates an inscribed foundation stone laid by Dr Ole Dramdal, head of Hordaland County Council, in 1991.

Three pointed arched doorways provide access: one in the north elevation onto an exterior decking area donated by Hordaland County Council in 2011; a second with steps up and a gabled porch canopy in the south face of the bell tower; and the main visitor entrance on the east side, also with a gabled porch canopy, steps up and an accessibility ramp to the left.

The gables are each punctuated by simple seven-circled rose windows. Pointed arched timber-framed windows with cusped lancet lights appear at ground floor level: four in the west gable plus a small lancet in the lower portion of the bell tower; three in the north elevation, with two to the left of the entrance and one to the right, with corresponding small rectangular windows on the floor above; and two on the east gable flanking the entrance. The south range features taller windows on its principal faces, each with nine square panes under trefoiled heads, with the southern window corresponding to the former altar window. Additional lancet windows are positioned adjacent to projecting gables and in angled faces, the latter incorporating stained glass.

The bell tower displays 2-light Y-tracery belfry openings with louvres on the west and south faces only. Above these sits an octagonal broach spire with a wide pyramidal base and cross finial.

Lettering below the two rose windows provides bilingual signage: Welsh on the east gable reading "Canolfan Gelfyddydau'r Eglwys Norwyaidd a Siop Goffi Norsk" and English on the west reading "Norwegian Church Arts Centre and Norsk Coffee Shop".

Internally, a mezzanine level divides the northern block, with a café area below (corresponding to the former Reading room) and an exhibition area and office space above. Three large square interior windows in the mezzanine level look down into the double-height space of the chamfered southern block, which corresponds to the church room in the original building and faces the former altar window opposite. This mezzanine floor was originally a stepped gallery. Stained glass lancets flank the former altar window in the south gable: on the left, a floral pattern recovered from the old church and rededicated to Huw Roger Allen, former Chairman of the Preservation Trust; on the right, an image of fish by Rhiannon Powell, donated by the Welsh Norwegian Society in 1992.

Suspended from the ceiling over the hall space are a chandelier and a model ship, both recovered from the original building. The scissor-truss timber roof structure is exposed in both sections. Artefacts on display include the original baptismal font and a pair of oars recovered from the foundations of the original building.