When St John’s church
in Egham decided to add a new community centre to its landmark Georgian
building, originally built in 1817, it needed a sensitive way to link the new
with the existing.
In contrast to the
historic church, the new community centre is designed in a contemporary style,
using natural stonework and curtain walling. The architect has opted to connect
the structures with a glazed atrium.
Phil Winch, principal
architect at CPL – an architecture practice specialising in church projects –
said: “The new centre is now in use and provides St. John’s with extensive,
new, versatile spaces, which embrace the new community centre project. Structural
glazing is an excellent way of connecting buildings with different
architectural styles, and also provides a dramatic visual impact to the
entrance area.
“In the case of an
historic building such as St John’s, a glazed link allows the original building
to retain its traditional appearance while, creating a route into the new
centre that has the bright and airy sense of the outdoors, but which is also
warm and sheltered.”
The architect’s
design was a central glazed, 6.5-metre-tall glass box with a partially glazed
roof. Pilkington Planar structural glazing was chosen to minimise the visual
interruptions created by the glazing.
The glass was
supported by a combination of steel and glass fins, which helped to further
reduce the presence of opaque structural elements.
The central box is
connected to the buildings by four one-metre-wide glass wings that sit in
grooves in the stonework of the facades, creating a seamless transition.
The double-glazed
units used in the atrium feature Pilkington K Glass. This has an on-line
pyrolytic low-e coating designed to reflect heat back into a building, greatly
improving its thermal efficiency while also maximising natural daylight. This
reduces the amount of heat that radiates out of the space and helps to lower
heating bills during the winter months.
Jason Eggerton,
Pilkington Planar Business Development Manager, said: “This was a very complex
and precise design which had to fit exactly between the existing church and the
new community centre.
“Thanks to close
co-operation between the team at Ide Contracting and the Pilkington design
team, the challenging installation was completed smoothly, and the result is a
visually striking structure that seamlessly links the old and the new.”
The new St John’s
community centre, with its excellent town centre location, will provide
significantly improved facilities. The space will enable the church to develop
the range of services it provides to the local community - including the
expansion of their pre-school Nursery and Playgroup, food bank, debt
counselling and bereavement support.
It also features
catering facilities, enabling the new building to be an ideal venue for
meetings and conferences of local organisations and charities.
