The brief for this project is to create a centre for a new religious community at St Margaret the Queen Church in Streatham Hill, South London. Our proposals include new structures and spaces for community activities, including a cafe, prep school and artists’ studios within the Listed church building itself, as well as private housing and monastic ‘community house’ accommodation in the grounds of the church. Our priorities in design were to acoustically manage diverse activities, from noisy children to quiet prayer, retain the flow of space and passage of light, touch the listed structure lightly, if at all add something to the experience of being in the church, not detract from it. Our proposals achieve this by creating a ‘courtyard’ within the Nave. Glazed screens touch the walls of the church lightly and create both a visual and acoustic barrier, behind which the prep school and artist’s studios are contained.
Reverend Gareth Powell
St Margaret the Queen Church, Streatham Hill
