St Augustine’s Church | Highbury

An Architects account

By Nicholas Weedon, DipArch, RIBA, Director HMDW Architects

When we first became involved with St. Augustine’s Highbury, the parish struck us as a happy ship, situated in the leafy Highbury New Park conservation area, but struggling against the tide in relation to its slighted outsized building that inconveniently presented a few daunting challenges too many,

The routes often taken along heritage and community funding channels for improvement schemes were not available here, as the building is not listed, and the locality does not score high in the social deprivation index. However, the congregation is not very large and keeping on top of the maintenance and heating bills on the outdated facilities for worshippers, and the very popular children’s playgroups was a serious concern.

We were initially approached in 2004 to undertake a feasibility and development plan for getting the best out of the building. The crucial activity in shaping the project during the intervening period was finding the appropriate match between out and the parish’s mutual ambition and the capacity for carrying out the improvements.

The tall and voluminous 1869 building by Haberson & Brock had been subdivided at the west end in the late 1960s to provide activity halls with attendant facilities, though the manner of their execution left the kitchen and toilets too remote for use worshippers, and a large disused void at the upper level. The heating system blew hot air into the worship space from a limited number of places, so there was a knack to finding the right pew with the warmer air instead of the chilly draughts. 

The space has much going for it: a chancel as wide as the nave and good sightlines from the aisles. The problems included the tendency of the worn floor tiles to collapse into pockets within the soft rubble filled lime screed below, and the difficulty of making the building comfortable during the winter months.

The initial study was for an ideal scheme of entirely re-fitting the west end on two or three levels, by the anticipated cost of over £1 million at 2005 prices was simply too prohibitive. Further studies were undertaken along the lines of forming space for generating commercial income, but these never proved to be viable either. The project developed into a phased approach, in which the first priority would be to provide up to date kitchen and toilet facilities to serve the existing halls and worship space, and to renew the heating system. Although design to be in sub-divisible phases, the funding drive – imaginatively branded the building as the Big Friendly Giant – eventually allowed these to be done together for a budget of around £670,000 with a decent saving on the otherwise duplicated preliminaries costs.

Kilby & Gayford were the referred bidder, on account of price, having an in-house joinery shop, and their presentation of previous work, including a large church reordering Wimbledon. This incorporated an underfloor heating system from which the very experienced site manager would transfer directly to St. Augustine’s.

The problems of the heating and uneven nave floor were tackled together. A straight restoration of the original floor would have been very expensive with little to gain, so this was simply retained ‘as found’ below a new raised floor in timber construction incorporating underfloor heating pipework. This is set at the level of the bottom chancel step, reducing the change in level from three to two steps, making the two domains feel more intimately linked. 

The heating is fed from new condensing boilers located in spare space within the tower, arranged to allow continued use of the existing bell hatch if need be. The new floor also saw a change from pews to loose chairs, which has already delighted worshippers with a greater sense of light and space, and proven successful with a summer Holiday Bible Club. This colonised the new interior with gazebos and activity spaces during the week after the church moved back in, providing an immediate realisation of the client’s vision for the building to be a resource at the centre of the community. The engineered oak floor with oiled finish has received very positive comments, and will be appreciated by the toddlers’ group in the winter months. The thinking behind the underfloor heating is that the users will gain the benefit of the heat as it rises on its way out through the yet to be insulated roof. For the coldest weather, water coil fed-natural radiators will introduce large volumes of converted air into the space. The anticipation is that the underfloor will be maintained constantly at a background temperature, allowing for quicker warming up of the space for activities, and avoiding the building fabric becoming too chilly in between.

At the west end, some further space was taken from the nave to provide the new amenities, but with the benefit of a large gallery (the old one was unsafe) and large storage rooms. This aspect of the design was carefully considered, as the last thing we wanted was for the nave to feel like the rump space of a much nibbled at building. The void space over the playgroup halls remains, pending future recolonisation. This is still screened by a single sided plasterboard wall propped up with random timbers in the manner of a stag set from behind. We had a to take great care to ensure that the fire stopping from the adjoining spaces and below is thorough. The construction of the new rooms revealed serous problems with the floor substrates, proving in hindsight that the decision to leave it alone beneath the new floor throughout the worship area was a prudent. Adjustments had to be made to the arrangement of footings and bearings for steel frame elements supporting the gallery. 

The new rooms and gallery were of simple plasterboard stud partition construction, with the addition of oak faced plywood cladding in certain areas to give a warm and intimate feeling, and the appearance of a ‘reversible’ installation. The excellent execution of this work by Killby & Gayford was key to achieving a real quality to the space. The nailing of plywood to plasterboard walls by the wrong hands would have the potential to look makeshift, and the client must also be acknowledged for accepting this idea without the benefit of seeing a previous example. The slightly varied tones of the oak flooring and plywood walling have proven to merge well with the existing stone columns and arches, providing a simple, natural and very pleasing palette of colours and materials.

The 1970s work had created an entrance lounge, which –in the best traditions of the era – did its best to hide the original features of the building. The opportunity was taken to adjust the ceiling and wall claddings locally to reveal the long lost heads of the lancet windows and the stone column shafts. A shallow ramp leads into the raised floor of the nave. A staircase to the new first floor offers the opportunity to inspect the beauty of the stained glass windows at close quarters. Although one lancet is still divided by floor levels, careful placement of fireproof portholes in an access hatch allows a child’s eye level appreciated of the figures behind, whose lower sections can be admired from the kitchen sink below. 

The old playgroup halls benefited from a new floor covering and lighting, and its old kitchen was consorted into a new meeting room. These different areas are characterised by distinct floor finishes defined by strong colours, yet the wall and door treatments with natural oak common to all areas, giving a unified and balanced feel throughout. 

Apart from the gallery, not much work had been planned for upstairs, but as the budget remained under reasonably good control during the contract, the opportunity was taken to prepare what was to have been a large store room in a derelict condition to become a very desirable meeting room, with the benefit of roof insulation and additional fitting out work. 

The three main areas can be used independently, maximising the potential for income generation. From our previous experience with designing such facilities, the take-up from local organisations is usually very good. The worship space will also be used for performance and pastoral activities such as the Marriage Preparation Course. The project ran over time, mainly due to the problems with the ground substrate and finishing works taking longer than expected, but overall it remained a ‘happy ship’ throughout the process too. The additional improvements have provided the church with the unexpected bonus of feeling more comprehensively renewed than expected, and a very good way along the road to what was initially imagined back in 2005. 

Project Team

Client: PCC of St. Augustine’s Church

Architects: HMDW Architects Ltd

Main Contractor: Kilby & Gayford

Quantity Surveyor: Robert Lombardelli Partnership

Structural Engineer: Ellis & Moore

Services Engineer: ENG Design

CDM Co-ordinator: Goddard Consulting

Photography: Henrietta Williams