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WORDS BY SOPHIE TOLHURST
PROJECT 2
Hackney Church St John at Hackney
Combining minimalism with original 18th century features, Thomas Ford & Partners and John Pawson transformed this east London church into a beautiful multifunctional space for the community
THE 18TH-CENTURY CHURCH St John at Hackney has undergone a £5.5m restoration by designer John Pawson and ecclesiastical and conservation specialist architects Thomas Ford & Partners (TF&P).
TF&P was initially appointed in 2015, but a second phase of the project brought the architects together with John Pawson, with TF&P continuing as architects for both internal and external matters, and as contract administrators for the site stage. While John Pawson produced the concepts for the main interior space and entrance, TF&P were responsible for the detailed design throughout, as well as the conservation and repair of existing fabric – an unusual situation that evolved into a great collaboration, says Clive England, partner at TF&P.
The church was designed by James Spiller in 1792, with a tower and porticos added a few decades later. Though the building is Grade-II listed, a devastating fire in the 1950s caused the roof to cave in and destroyed a number of the church’s original features. There were specific challenges to the church’s restoration: the roof damage was significant, requiring extensive repair and reinforcement from above by specialists. It was also found that the large church organ – a replacement after the fire – was too heavy for the west gallery that supported it, necessitating ‘intricate structural interventions’, England explains. The South Wing, meanwhile, containing ancillary spaces for the running of the church, ‘was a random collection of ad hoc floors, mezzanines and partitions’, England says, which was ‘very ineficient in its use of space and wholly inadequate in terms of means of escape and fire separation’. This has now been replaced with a more eficient offering of parish and community accommodation, including ofices, multi-use rooms, toilets, showers and kitchen, with access provided by new stairs and a lift.
Internally, ground-floor partitions dating to the post-fire restoration were removed, restoring the original Greek Cross layout of the original church, with its square central section and four extensions of equal size. Gone too is that era’s Festival of Britain-style colour scheme, with columns painted teal and other elements in red; all of these are now white.
The result is an interior that is closer to its original 18th century design than it has been since the fire, England notes. But it is still a distinctly modern take on the original, with the absence of elements lost providing the opportunity for the minimalist treatment that is Pawson’s signature. This is the designer’s first church project in the UK, but he previously completed the restoration of St Moritz church in Augsburg, Germany, also damaged by fire and bombing, with an even more minimal design.
The newly painted white of the dome is contrasted with dark-stained oak joinery covering the walls on three sides of the nave, while on the fourth, eastern, side, is a new sanctuary that doubles as a stage. The joinery was coloured to match a war memorial within the church and the original surviving Georgian pews, while its fluting detail echoes that of the structural columns supporting the gallery. Against these contrasts of light and dark, the gold of the reredos and organ shine brightly. ‘As a critical aspect of the design, new architectural elements – distinct from the existing fabric of the church interior, but relating to the existing timber pews and organ – are used to define the different spaces and functions’, Pawson comments. Two new minimalist chapels sit on either side of the nave, one containing a new font designed by Pawson, who also designed a new altar, lectern and processional cross. There are also custom-designed transparent glass pendants – a collaboration between Pawson and Italian supplier Wonderglass. These pared-back elements hide storage for the nave’s free-standing seating, while the church’s simple and clean interior conceals a vast amount of cabling associated with the sophisticated lighting, sound, heating, CCTV, and security systems – which England describes as ‘probably the most that I have seen on any similar project.’ Large downlighters within the ceiling were also replaced with more discreet uplighting around the dome’s perimeter. The project was part-funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, (for just over £2m); part by funds raised by donations from the congregation; and also by a Section 106 agreement for the land that used to be the rectory garden. This separate scheme, by DLA
IMAGES
BY GILBERT MCCARRAGHER
This image The gold of the organ and reredos contrasts with the newly painted white walls and dark oak joinery
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