It is inside the front door that after so much effort and time away from our building, we get the chance to remember what this is all about - the renewing of our worship and community spaces.

THE NEW FACILITIES:
Ground floor:

    Sanctuary - main hall for 250 people
    Lobby / Reception - Large cafe style space with mezzanine area above
    Kitchen and toilets serving ground floor
    Two     octagonal turret exhibition rooms
    Two shop units leased to subsidise the church’s work in the community
    Tiny     garden space

First Floor:

    Second hall - seats 100 or subdivides with partitions into 3 smaller spaces
    First floor kitchen, toilets, and shower
    Creche / young childrens area with separate childrens toilets includes a turret room
    3     office spaces
    Prayer / retreat room including a turret room

Basement:

    Messy / noisy room.  For messy art, maintenance, and a project 16 track recording studio with sound booth for shutting in very noisy musicians.

THE SANCTUARY - A NEW DOUBLE HEIGHT HALL
This space is the main church meeting room in the new building consisting of a 250 seat hall with oak floor, 3 large plate glass windows and a skylight running the length of the end wall. Full theatre / conference facilities are being installed, including audio visual projection, a 24 channel PA with 5.1 channel (surround sound) capability, and 32 channels of performance and dimmable house lighting. The acoustics have been designed for maximum clarity of speech intelligibility by Simon Kahn, and also to provide full isolation from the apartments above.  Artwork has been commissioned for the hall from artists inside the church - Laura Cave, RCA graduate - and also from secular artists, and a custom furniture manufacturer is building the special pieces required for lectern and communion table, as well as the mobile mixer desk and reception desk for the lobby. A new baptistry is being built.     Back to top.

THE LOBBY AND MEZZANINE - AN INFORMAL WELCOME
The entrance to the church has been designed as a “neutral zone”; a large informal space allowing everyone to come into the building without immediately feeling that they are intruding on the congregation’s devotional space.  Kitchen and toilets are adjacent making this an ideal lounge space for informal events, refreshments, meals etc. The porch has had a skylight added and the windows enlarged, to allow lots of light into the entrance area.  Stairs rising to the first floor meet a bridge across the double height space leading to a mezzanine area, creating a further seating area slightly more private than the reception, yet still part of the same space.  A history display with old church artifacts will occupy one wall.   Back to top.

WEST OCTAGONAL TOWER - EXHIBITION SPACE
The removal of the stone spiral staircases from the octagonal towers has allowed their use as feature spaces in both the church and the flats above. The ground floor tower rooms are intended as windows onto the street  - for artistic and church displays. The laying of underfloor heating pipes throughout the ground floor resulted in this intriguing shot of the tower room floor during construction.    Back to top.

SMALL HALL - FIRST FLOOR
The hall on the first floor has been designed for maximum flexibility. Very high tech room dividers allow the room to be split into three areas with good acoustic separation from each other, for use by multiple small groups such as children’s classes for different age ranges. When opened up the room can seat 100, and has its own toilets and small kitchen so it can be used completely independently of activities in the main hall, also having its own access to the side street. Video projector, and video and sound relay from the main hall allow its use separate from or as an extension of the main hall area.      Back to top.

GARDEN
There has always been a strip of land at the east side of the church, but until now it was so inaccessible that the neighbors used to borrow it for a garden.  Now it will be easy to reach, and provide an opportunity for a small outside space away from the road.   Back to top.

CRECHE / CHILDREN’S AREA
One of the big drawbacks of the old building was that there was only one set of toilets which was not adjacent to any other rooms which could be used for creche or children. This contributed to the building being unsuitable for nursery use. The new building includes a dedicated young children’s area safely located on the first floor, with its own access, and toilets within the area. It also benefits from the west tower room on the first floor, creating a bright “quiet” area partly separated from the rest of the room, and the best window in the conversion - made from an arched doorway which looks out over Westbourne Grove, with a view up Ledbury Road in the direction of Notting Hill Gate.  Thats going to be a crowded spot next carnival as it overlooks the route !!     Back to top.

OFFICE SPACES
Modern churches need to be as high tech as any other organisation in order to stay in touch and manage their activities, so lots of space has been provided for the administration that may be needed to support the future busy use of the building.  All rooms carry comprehensive power, phone and computer network wiring.  Back to top.

RETREAT/PRAYER TURRET
In times gone past priest holes were used for the wrong kinds of priest to hide away! We dont need that defence at the moment, but sometimes seclusion is still welcome.  The remaining tower room provided an ideal opportunity to create a small private space for prayer or a private conversation.  Sometimes visiting speakers need a place to stay in London overnight and might want to spend the time praying or studying rather than chatting, so a tiny self contained area has been created with shower/toilet, minicooker, and sofabed.    Back to top.

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