New church hall meets stringent building requirements

When St John The Evangelist Church in Redhill, Surrey decided that they needed a church hall, to address the lack of children’s facilities as well as the need for office space, they approached specialist contractors Surrey-based Corniche Builders Ltd to undertake the project which had to meet a number of stringent requirements.

The church is a Grade B Ecclesiastical Listed Building, whilst the churchyard and boundary wall are curtilage listed. The proposal required work to be carried out within the graveyard and so there were issues relating to the sensitivities of the relocation of graves. The site also lies close to the Earlswood and Redhill Common Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI).

The vision for the church was to provide a centre that has a permanence and quality appropriate to the listed status of the building as well as being sensitive to the Conservation Area. In this reapect care has been taken to pick up on the style and detailing on the church as well as in the use of materials

The church is a focal point for the local community in respect of its use as well as being a focal point visually. A traditional design approach was seen to be critical to the suitability of the scheme in this sensitive location and as such a contemporary design, whilst given consideration, was rejected.

The site contains a number of trees that are protected by virtue of their location within the Conservation Area. Some of these trees play an important role in the context of the site and how it relates to the wider area, while others appear out of place and reduce the visibility of key aspects of the church. A joint site visit was made with the council’s tree officer, Malcolm James, and the applicant’s tree specialist to identify the trees that should be retained, those to be removed and others that could benefit from work being undertaken.

The new building has also been designed to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act providing access to all.

Corniche Builders have started on site and work is well underway - the images below give an indication of the progress being made towards completion.

For further information on projects undertaken by the company visit www.corniche-builders.co.uk