Backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project is designed to create an inclusive meeting place for a diverse local community
Matthew Lloyd Architects have completed the restoration and extension of the Grade II* listed St Mary’s Walthamstow.
Backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project is designed to help expand the church’s engagement work with the local community. St Mary’s descirbes itself as “a church for the whole community”.
Situated in Waltham Forest, one of the UK’s most culturally diverse areas, the client envisioned a unifying space where local communities could come together to celebrate their heritage, cultures, and histories.
The completed project encompasses the restoration and reconfiguration of the church, along with the addition of a small extension.
The project has expanded the facilities for the community, including a gallery and a parish office, while preserving the historic spaces through interventions that seek to improve the church’s flexibility and accessibility.
The extension’s form and detailing draw inspiration from the church and its surroundings. The palette of materials includes zinc, larch, and reconstituted stone, which the architect selected in order to allow the contemporary addition to blend into its historic context.
Project architect Alex Spicer said: “Our key challenge at St. Mary’s was to sensitively extend an important Grade II* Listed medieval church without resorting to pastiche. We built upon the language of the church and its historic surroundings, including the nearby Ancient House, to create a contemporary architectural interpretation that could achieve this.
“Inside the church, layers of ill-considered and inappropriate alterations were carefully removed to unveil the historic essence of the building, before new, finely detailed elements were sensitively inserted to house functional areas. The resulting spaces celebrate monuments and historic features, which have long been obscured, whilst adding a contemporary layer to the history of St. Mary’s.”
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