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Cafe space
November 9, 2018

Dorchester Community Church

The site for the Dorchester Community Church and the adjoining school were identified by the Duchy of Cornwall in its master plan for this new district on the edge of Dorchester.

The Dorchester Community church sold their site in Dorchester and moved into the new church in the Autumn of 2018 

We were commissioned to re-design the interior, provide detailed construction drawings and make inspections of the work as it progressed.  

The church now has a main worship area to seat approximately 200, a public café, three flexible meeting rooms, a creche and offices; in addition to male, female and disabled toilets and a lift between the ground and first floors.

The church, which is naturally ventilated, sits on one side of a piazza/car park and being the first church to be constructed in Poundbury has become a focal point for this new community.

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October 7, 2018

Christ Church, Teddington

In 2015 the congregation of Christ Church, Teddington sold their historic church building which had become too large and difficult to maintain and moved into the adjacent 1970s community hall. This building was not well suited for use as a church and had low ceilings, poor natural light, and no street presence.

EMJ Architects were approached to create a new permanent home for the church by refurbishing and extending this building. In 2016 we obtained planning permission for our proposal and in May 2017 work to transform the hall began on site.

The design creates a sequence of uplifting spaces which lead the visitor from the street through to the worship space. A new glazed entrance, visible from the street acts, as a beacon marking the church’s presence in the public realm. Within the church grounds new garden spaces have been created with fitted oak benches providing places to wait and reflect.

This project was with EMJ Architects.

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Wesley Road Church Architect Somerset
September 12, 2016

Wesley Road

A project with our sister company, EMJ Architects. The Wesley Road Methodist Church is consists of a number buildings which have been developed in a disconnected manner over time. The Church is located on a sloping corner site and the current entrance suffers from a lack of legibility and unfortunate floor level changes.

We have been appointed to undertake a feasibility study and master plan exercise for the extension and adaption of the entrance to provide  new structures that link the various buildings, provides a welcoming approach to visitors and that better respond to its corner site.

 

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Community Church Architecture Hounslow
September 12, 2016

The Christian Community Church, Hounslow

With our sister company, EMJ Architects. A very tight site and an expanding congregation pose a tricky problem for this church based in south-west London, we proposed the removal of the existing roof, which is dated and dilapidated and construct an additional floor and new roof on top of the existing building. The proposal provides the church with a new, larger, worship space at first-floor level, as well substantial improvements to environmental performance due to improved insulation and daylighting provided by the new roof.

Other changes to the layout of the building include remodelling of the lobby to provide a welcoming and uplifting entrance to the new worship space, plus remodelling of the remainder of ground-floor to provide new offices, new kitchen facilities, new classrooms and a secondary activities hall.

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April 12, 2016

St Michael & All Angels Church, Wiltshire

St Michael & All Angels is a Grade II Listed Church is Melksham, Wiltshire. In partnership with our sister company, EMJ Architects we proposed an addition of a café space as well as much need additional WC and storage facilities. This is achieved through a separate wraparound storage structure and a pavilion building in the ground of the church, which create the additional spaces without need for internal alterations to the listed building. The café pavilion is connected to the church by a lightweight glazed section, providing covered circulation in a modern style which is subservient to the existing church.

 

 

March 1, 2016

St Thomas More, Bradford On Avon

St Thomas More is one of Bradford on Avon’s most prominent buildings and a fine example of 1850’s Tudor architecture. As well as being a church it has been renovated to include 2 shop units on the ground floor and 3 rented flats on the upper floors.

The restoration included stone cleaning and extensive repair, re-slating the entire roof and reinstating the clock in the tower.

The cost of the work was assisted by a generous grant from Wiltshire County Council. On completion, the scheme was given a Conservation Award from the Bradford on Avon Town Council.

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St Johns Church Somerset Architectural Renovation
March 1, 2016

St John’s Church, Bath, Somerset

Despite the predominance of Georgian architecture Bath’s Victorian buildings make a valuable and unique contribution to its townscape. Built in 1863 St John’s is one of the most significant and admirably demonstrates how a roof can be such a delightful feature contrasting with the more familiar Georgian approach of concealing most of the roof slope behind parapets.

St John’s Church suffered a direct hit during the World War 2 bombing blitz. This took off most of the massive roof and damaged much of the stonework. With the support of generous grant s from Bath & NE Somerset Council and English Heritage we were able to reinstate the damaged stonework and the contrasting bands of grey and purple slates – a typical Victorian decorative feature that had been lost from the roofscape of Bath since the 1940’s.

The slates were obtained from the same Welsh quarry as had been used by the Church’s original architect, Charles Francis Hansom (a cousin of the inventor of the famous Hansom carriage).

The tall cross and 8 metre length of cast iron cresting over the chancel had also been destroyed in the blitz; whilst there were no reliable detailed records we were able to design a suitable replacement in consultation with the City’s Department of Built Heritage.

The scheme received an award for Environmental Design from the Bath Conservation Area Advisory Team.

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June 2, 2014

Hanham Baptist Church

The modern day chapel was constructed in 1972 on the site of an original chapel dating from 1714; it is located on a busy vehicular thoroughfare between Bristol and Bath.

As the Architects for this project, our brief was to improve the street presence of the church; provide an enlarged lobby area to form an entrance cafeteria; provide improved disabled access to the main entrance and improve the energy efficiency of the existing building.

The angular layout of the new entrance reflects the church’s wish to attract the attention of Passers-by heading to both Bristol and Bath; therefore the building addresses both street directions. The substantial glazing is intended to make the Church’s activities more transparent from the street, whilst affording visitors to the building views into the cafeteria area as they approach the entrance.

The scheme improves the energy efficiency of the building by applying new insulated render and high performance solar-reflective glazing; firstly improving running costs and secondly bringing a space which overheats in the summer into comfortable year round usage.

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October 7, 2013

Peasedown Methodist Church

The enthusiastic congregation of Peasedown Methodist Church were closely involved with our Architects at all stages of the design ensuring that the internal alterations & two storey extension satisfied all their various requirements. These included the removal of the original large pipe organ and the re-arrangement of the Prayer Room, a new Quiet Room, Youth Room, Meeting Room, male and female toilets, disabled toilet & shower room.

In addition a new main entrance into the Church was created and an external disabled ramp introduced from the ground floor car park level down to the entrance doors into the Youth Room at lower ground floor level and beyond to the rear garden lawn.