The development consists of two areas: the Garden Room extension, which creates space for the new facilities; and internal alterations which maximise the space available in the existing rooms.
The extension will provide the church’s first ever toilets (one fully accessible, with baby-changing facilities), a kitchenette for serving drinks and simple refreshments, and a social space for community activities, Children’s Church, school visits and more… and a new accessible entrance.
The extension will be on the north (back) side of the church, replacing the current choir vestry which will be demolished. It will be accessed directly from a new doorway in the north wall of the church via a glass-walled, step-free passageway. The new doorway will be created by enlarging the window opening nearest the organ on the north wall, with the stained-glass window currently located there restored and repositioned to replace the clear glass central window.
The extension will have glass walls on the north and west sides opening up views onto our glorious churchyard. The two toilets will be located off the passageway. The west wall of the Garden Room will contain a kitchenette complete with sink, microwave and dishwasher. The Garden Room will be large enough to host coffee after services, Children’s Church and community groups during the week. The new extension will also free up availability in the Parish Hall for further community use.
The Garden Room will benefit from step-free access to the churchyard, with a south-facing door onto a Mary Garden. A contemporary glass artwork will be commissioned to be integrated into the east wall of the Garden Room to echo the existing stained-glass windows in the church, bringing in further light. The whole extension is designed as an integrated space with the church, which will be step-free and accessible from both the existing church and churchyard.
Click on the images below to view the approved design plans and elevation drawings.
To minimise the size of the extension and keep costs as low as possible, the proposed design includes a re-organisation of the rooms in the northeast of the church to make the most efficient use of its existing footprint. Firstly, the significant amount of space in the current organ chamber will be liberated by replacing the pipe organ with a new state-of-the-art digital organ. Experts have confirmed that the current pipe organ is of virtually no historical significance and not a high-quality instrument.
Replacement of this with a new digital organ (with 20 drawstops) will improve the sound quality as well as free up the space currently occupied by the pipes and bellows. This area will become the sacristy, an area used by the clergy before and after services, with a mezzanine floor inserted to accommodate storage above. It will be accessed by a new doorway and staircase from the current sacristy (the room to the left of the altar) which will become the new choir vestry. This room can also be used as a further meeting room when not required by the choir.
View the current church building and churchyard below.
