This week we have two Churches of the Week, the winners of our recent architectural awards for the best new and conservation church architecture of 2014, announced yesterday at Westminster Cathedral Hall. First up is the winner of The Presidents’ Award for new church architecture, presented annually on behalf of the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association President and the National Churches Trust’s Joint Presidents, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York: St Josephs Roman Catholic Church in Derby, whose strikingly modern new hall was designed by Evans Vettori Architects. This eye-catching new building in the centre of Derby consists of a multi-purpose hall with kitchen, storage and toilet facilities. A new opening with sliding folding doors, created in the wall of the existing church, allows the hall to be opened up to the church space. It really is a fantastic modern church, carefully designed to fulfil the varied needs of the wide range of groups that use it. And as Parish Priest Father John Trenchard reports, the congregation and local community has been so impressed with their new building that he has not heard a single word of criticism.... (which) is quite remarkable.” Dan Greenaway, Director of Evans Vettori Architects Ltd said: “Evans Vettori Architects are delighted to receive the President’s Award for the New Parish Hall at St Josephs, Derby. For many years, an aspiration of St Joseph’s parish has been to strengthen the relationship between the church and local community. Our brief was to fulfil this aspiration through the creation of an extension to the main church building. The end product aims to convey clarity of concept with simple elegant design, to enhance rather than diminish the importance of the existing church and its central worship space.” Claire Walker, CEO of the National Churches Trust said: “The National Churches Trust is proud to be a joint sponsor of these awards, which recognise the expertise and talent of church architects. This year we received entries for some exceptional projects involving Church of England, Roman Catholic and Methodist churches. Evans Vettori Architects are to be congratulated for their bold winning entry which will serve the parish of St Joseph’s Roman Catholic church in Derby and also help make the church even more of an asset to the wider local community. Built on a modest budget, it shows how imaginative modern architecture can bring new life to a church.” nationalchurchestrust.org/news/top-prizes-church-architecture
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:17:08 +0000