In relation to the theme of place-making, it would be hard to find a better example of intervening in an already crowded corner of a city and weaving everything together so that the whole becomes so much greater than the sum of the parts, but in saying this, one acknowledges that the newcomer to the party is actually the belle of the ball.
Alan Powers – author and architectural critic
St.Michaels Church is a large and powerful building. The new accommodation is an assembly of buildings grouped around a courtyard. This performs a compositional role but it also symbolises the new openness and accessibility of the church. The rather forbidding exterior of the existing victorian church is included as an enclosing edge of a new exterior space which is welcoming to the public. In urban terms the scheme has created a new kind of outdoor space for the community. Although it is easily accessed off a public footpath it is nonetheless defined and relatively enclosed. It will serve as a meeting space for receptions, church functions and for nursery school use. Like a cloister it will serve too as a means of access, with a covered route connecting the buildings around it.
Location: Barnes, London
Completed: 2007
This project is featured in ‘Topical Building‘, a 2017 monograph on the work of Hugh Cullum Architects.
