Chance de Silva’s award-winning church and parish centre in Redcar establishes strong links with its site and the local community.
As one of those fabled ‘red wall’ towns, Redcar in North Yorkshire sometimes seems to be in the news for all the wrong reasons, writes Stephen Chance of Chance de Silva. It might be for the demolition of significant industrial heritage, such as the Dorman Long tower or the Redcar Blast Furnace. Or perhaps for the political machinations behind the controversial Freeport. So it’s good to see a small-scale project punching above its weight and revitalising a community in a part of town undergoing significant regeneration.
Saint Hilda’s Church and Kirkleatham Parish Centre is a bit of a mouthful, but what it means is a multipurpose community building for activities ranging from solitary prayer to Zumba. Won in competition, the £600,000 the building replaces a structurally failing 1960s church that stood aloof in a grassy field. Located on the street corner, the new building holds its own against Asda and its car park opposite. Its refurbished freestanding cross, screen-printed clerestory artwork and salvaged dalle-de-verre glass signals the continuity and renewal of a long cultural tradition. That is the story of Saint Hilda, an important figure in this part of the north-east, who continued the monastic tradition of Lindisfarne by founding an abbey at Whitby in the seventh century.
Some of this history is reflected in the design of the new building alongside references to the area’s boatbuilding tradition and legacy of heavy industry. Caedmon’s Hymn, ammonites, the local landmark of Roseberry Topping, and offshore wind turbines all surface in the seven-metre-long screen-printed glass frieze. The participation of the congregation throughout and the salvaging and restoration of iconic artist-made dalle-de-verre windows from the existing church have helped to bake-in a sense of continuity.
The façade is composed of natural larch fins, which provide a warm, welcoming aesthetic. Inside, the main hall functions as a nave for religious services and a flexible hall for everything else (taekwondo, evening classes, sewing bee, food bank, café etc). A small chapel doubles as a meeting room, the office as a vestry, and there is a community kitchen onto the main hall in which, at the vicar’s insistence, there is a proper espresso coffee machine. The project won a RIBA Northeast Regional Award, with involvement of the local parish also recognised by the RIBA judges who awarded it Northeast Client of the Year.
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