24 August, 2009
Broadway Malyan has unveiled images of its £1 million Baptist Church in the Lincolnshire village of Burgh le Marsh, just east of Skegness. The 600m² scheme houses a main workshop space and baptistery for 200 people, a flexible church hall, private prayer room, lounge, kitchen, pastor’s office and a small Fair Trade shop.
The design consists of two different but complementary dramatic, angular forms, joined by a glazed link which provides circulation space and entrance to the church from the village. A new public square has also been created in front of the church within which sits an elevated edge-lit acrylic cross.
The larger of the two forms provides a frontage to the community, with a totally glazed facade broken by rhythmic, vertical timber louvres. The building is characterised by black bitumen paint, a recognisable feature of the reminiscent Dutch architecture present in the Lincolnshire Fens. The black cladding panels of this block starkly and appropriately contrast the function and materiality of the second lower and narrower block which is simply finished in white render and houses the support accommodation. Due to the remote location of the site, pre-fabricated timber construction will be used in order to reduce labour costs.
