ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS ESTATE

We successfully won planning and listed building consent for the Grade I Listed asset that is St Michael & All Angels Church, situated in the London Borough of Hackney and originally designed in 1863 in a neo-gothic style by James Brooks. Working in close collaboration with Historic England our proposals for a new use to breathe life back into the old building centre around the revealing of the vast volume of the church’s nave and the introduction of a new organically planned mezzanine layout. In the brownfield yard outside a new office building is proposed to not only compliment the polychromatic brickwork of the church but also to contextually repair the current “gap tooth” in the streetscape.

Client

Aitch and Vfund

Facility

Workplace

Location

London, Shoreditch

Size

32,000 sqft

Status

On site

Concept design collage

View along Mark Square of the Eastern elevation of St. Michael, showing adjacent buildings

St Michael’s church interior view, 1868

Historic area plan, 1872

St Michael’s has been deconsecrated since the 1970s. Historically, the site was surrounded by other buildings and when these historic structures are considered in context with the church the urban block reads as a built-up perimeter surrounding an open central space. With a single access point through this built-up perimeter a common space is created between the new building and the church, easing the relationship between them and encouraging movement and activity between the buildings.

CGI of our proposed new office building adjacent to the church

Ground floor plan

Limited poor access
Poor relationship between the buildings
Full massing creates heavily enclosed space

Improve access
Create amenity between the buildings
Open the space to create more frontage

Use the south facing façade to create terraces
Placemaking between the building

Open the space to build connection with Mark Sqaure

Create visual amenity between Church and office building

Link the materiality on the two buildings
Architecturally link the language of the Church with the office

Our design includes a contemporary organic mezzanine structure completely independent of the existing fabric that weaves its way between the church columns, opening up the currently concealed volume and revealing the East end of the chancel with its stained glass windows by Clayton and Bell.

The church was the home of LASSCO from 1979 until 2007, known as “that Architectural Salvage place in that church in East London”, since when it has been the home of Westland Antiques.

We have explored for our client various uses of the church space, including restaurant, workplace and retail / showroom.

We are currently removing the floating mezzanine that was added by the previous occupants to comence the restoration works.

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33 High Holborn
London
WC1V 6AX

© Trehearne Architects 2023