Projects : Community

All Saints Church, Little Shelford, Cambridge

The project consists of two small buildings, one is attached to the Grade 1 listed church and the other within the churchyard. The site is positioned in the centre of the village within a conservation area.

The church extension provides a much needed break-out space for the congregation, together with a small kitchen, disabled persons wc and store/boiler room.

The existing floor level of the church is some 600mm below the external ground level and so the extension is recessed into the ground within an in-situ concrete tanked well. The superstructure is part masonry and part structural oak framing. The interior philosophy was one of minimal intervention against the historic North wall. The internal materials are expressed simply and monastic in feel.

The North building is a separate entity, positioned at the rear of the churchyard in a glade, sinuous footpaths provide pedestrian access from the church.

This building is a simple, single storey rectangle which floats above the ground. The structure is a piled and timber raft, with a superstructure constructed as a highly insulated timber box.

Externally the building is a cedar rainscreen cladding with iroko windows. The interior is a series of multi-purpose interlinked spaces, with a full kitchen, toilets, store and boiler room. The finishes internally are plain white walls, timber floor, with under floor heating.