Linking new with old
31st October 2017

St John’s church in Egham has linked new with old by combining natural stonework and a glazed atrium for the addition of a new community centre to its original 1817 building.

Phil Winch, principal architect at CPL – an architecture practice specialising in church projects – said: “Structural glazing is an excellent way of connecting buildings with different architectural styles, and also provides a dramatic visual impact to the entrance area. In the case of an historic building such as St John’s, a glazed link allows the original building to retain its traditional appearance while, creating a route into the new centre that has the bright and airy sense of the outdoors, but which is also warm and sheltered.”

The architect’s design was a central glazed, 6.5-metre-tall glass box with a partially glazed roof. Pilkington Planar structural glazing was chosen to minimise the visual interruptions created by the glazing. The glass was supported by a combination of steel and glass fins, which helped to further reduce the presence of opaque structural elements.

The central box is connected to the buildings by four one-metre-wide glass wings that sit in grooves in the stonework of the facades, creating a seamless transition.

The double-glazed units used in the atrium feature Pilkington K Glass with its pyrolytic low-e coating designed to reflect heat back into a building.

www.pilkington.co.uk