St Saviours' Church House, Knightsbridge, London

The building is a Grade II listed church, constructed in the Victorian gothic style. The church had fallen into a state of decline, with a congregation too small for the building and a lack of funds for restoration and repair. Our client was a member of the congregation. He proposed that the church be divided in two; the southern half was to be converted into a four bedroom private residence while the northern half was renovated but retained as a smaller church.

We made significant changes to the structure of the building, removing the adjoining church hall, yet retaining the entrance façade and creating a basement within the church by propping up the eight nave columns. Behind the façade of the former church hall we created a courtyard and  'courtyard house' with windows facing out onto the new space. The new basement is used as extra storage room for the smaller church and we constructed a swimmimg pool for the use of private residents.

The project required sensitivity to the history of the building and much attention was paid, throughout, to its original features. We stored historic but redundant timbers in the attic space in response to English Heritage requirements that it remain possible to easily convert the building back to its former use. We acknowledged the building’s past through the interior décor of the residential space, inserting wooden panelling and a stone staircase. A large stained glass Rose Window was restored which now filters coloured light into the triple height living room acting as a visual link between the past and present functions of the space.