Paddock Johnson were appointed via mini competition to design a new community parish hall and affordable housing on the site of St Martins Parish Hall, a 1950’s building no longer fit for purpose. Working in conjunction with Regenda, the Parish sought to redevelop the site to provide as many social benefits as possible through the provision of a new Parish Chapel together with new affordable housing.
In order to meet the needs of the expanding and thriving area, the new community parish hall needed to be as flexible as possible, in order to support a range of activities and allow multiple groups to use the building at the same time. Aesthetically there was a desire to replace the existing Parish Hall building with something contemporary architecturally whilst at the same time being recognisable as a chapel.
The new community parish hall is designed to sit comfortably in the context of the new housing as a predominately single storey building with a double height volume for the chapel space. The scale and form reference domestic architecture intended to be familiar and welcoming, whilst subtle design details bring light into the Chapel.