CLIENT

Newcraigs Evangelical Church

LOCATION

Fife

VALUE

Unbuilt

Newcraigs Evangelical Church is a thriving church in a residential area which had outgrown its original building. They were shoehorning 150 people into a building designed for 100 and were looking for room to expand with capacity for 300 and accommodation for a growing range of activities. GLM were asked to put forward proposals both for radical extension and for new build.

The overall layout takes inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, where the auditorium and community facilities face each other across the entrance hall. In this proposal, the kitchen servery sits at the junction of all the parts – food being such a core part of building fellowship. This opens up many opportunities, such as running a community café. The foyer is designed not just as an entrance, but as a large multi-purpose space which, by opening a moveable wall, can be joined with At the far end of the foyer is a sports hall and to the rear are small meeting rooms, toilets, etc.

The designs for the sanctuary are based on the idea of “church in the round” as seen in many churches throughout history – including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. This layout once again emphasises the idea of a gathered community, rather than an audience of spectators. The design also explores how layers of symbolism could be used within simple modern construction. Although on this occasion our bid was unsuccessful, I’m sure some of the ideas in it will be explored further in future projects.