The apsidal shape will allow clear views to and from Peterhouse, while the cone which forms the roof of the main part of the extension will draw the eye both to the 'archaeological site' which is the west wall of the church, and towards the churchyard garden and the houses of Little St Mary's Lane. From within, glazed full-length screens allow for views west to the garden, and east to the sundial on the church buttress, and to the 12th-century stonework embedded in the existing Parish Room wall.
A light well (invisible from the outside) against the west wall of the church will allow the bottom three bays of the west window, blocked when the Parish Room was built in the 1890s, to be re-opened, with the possibility of Kempe stained glass from a redundant church being installed beneath his Jesse window.
The wild churchyard garden is a unique and beautiful feature in the centre of Cambridge. In designing the Parish Centre, particular care has been taken to ensure that the garden is not harmed, but, rather, enhanced by the extensions to the existing building.
The Parish Centre extension builds outward from the existing hall in a direction that does not reduce the main area of the garden. The roof of the extension, viewed from the garden, is designed to echo and harmonise with the pitched roof of the church. Curved oak boards have been chosen for the extension. These will weather to a silver brown/grey, matching the brown pebble stones used to face the church wall.
The Parish Centre, the churchyard wild garden, and the beautiful mediæval church itself will show to us and to the city a vision of community, beauty and worship.
Accessibility is an essential part of the Parish Centre plans. We are ensuring that all areas of the Centre are accessible to the disabled. There is a wider sense in which we want to increase accessibility and openness, both to the congregation and to the community. The accessibility of the parish office will make it easier for members of the congregation to undertake administrative tasks. The meeting spaces and their associated facilities will invite the hosting of events organized both from within the parish and without.
Site plan
Elevations