New choristers’ facilities and level access ramp proposed for grade I-listed Royal Peculiar
Purcell has submitted plans to refurbish and extend an 800-year-old church in central London which was built by the Knights Templar.
Proposals submitted by the heritage practice to the City of London Corporation earlier this month would add two single-story extensions to the grade I-listed Temple Church and an accessible ramp at its main entrance.
Designed for the Temple Church Trust, the scheme is seeking to address long-standing constraints at the site including a lack of safeguarding for choristers, who currently share circulation routes with adult singers and members of the public.
Temple Church was built in 1185 as the English headquarters of the Knights Templar, a Christian military order which played an important role in the Crusades.
One of the oldest surviving churches in the capital, it is also an unusual example of a medieval round church, the typical design of Knights Templar churches inspired by the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
Today the church is a popular tourist spot and offers weekly choral performances by its all-male choir, which consists of 18 boys and 12 adult men.
But its current facilities are “constrained, outdated, and inaccessible, limiting the effective operation of the church’s liturgical, musical, and educational functions,” according to Purcell.
The practice said its proposals to extend the site have arisen from a “clear and established need” to address a lack of step-free access and flaws in the site’s existing song school accommodation.
The project is responding to the need for improved safeguarding arrangements, including a requirement to clearly separate choristers, staff and visitors, and to provide inclusive WC facilities to support a mix of genders.
Proposed interventions would include two newbuild structures added to the northern side of the church to provide an improved song school room and a dedicated choristers’ entrance.
The new song school would be topped with a circular roof lantern echoing the shape of the circular western half of the main church building, and would lead into the main body of the church through a new door created by cutting through the existing church wall.
Existing interior spaces occupied by the current song school would also be refurbished to provide additional toilets and amenity areas while separating circulation routes used by choristers from those used by adult singers and members of the public.
Meanwhile, a curving ramp would be added to the north churchyard to provide level access to the main entrance.
Purcell said its approach to the scheme is “grounded in restraint and sensitivity, ensuring that new additions are modest, subordinate, and complementary to the existing fabric”.
“The combined cultural, heritage, environmental, operational, and accessibility benefits of the proposals significantly outweigh the limited and carefully managed impacts of the proposed interventions,” the practice said.
It added that the project aims to provide a “future-focused enhancement to a globally significant historic church - ensuring that its choral, liturgical, and community activities can continue to thrive in a safe, accessible, and inspiring setting”.
The church, which has given its name to the surrounding Temple district of Holborn and the nearby Temple tube station, has been owned jointly by the Inner and Middle Inns of Court since the early 17th century.
It holds the status of a Royal Peculiar, meaning it is subject to the direct jurisdiction of the Crown rather than its local diocese, and its choristers wear the scarlet robes used by other churches with royal connections including Westminster Abbey.
Purcell has been contacted for comment.
No comments yet