St. Peter’s Parkstone is an active church at the heart of our urban community, supporting diverse groups from youth clubs to refugees. Previously, our activities were split between the church and a distant, deteriorating church hall. Now, all our vital community groups—including youth, prayer, education, and lunch clubs—need to gather within the main church.
However, the current layout is not fit to accommodate these diverse needs. The St. Peter’s Re-ordering project seeks to transform our beautiful Victorian building into a highly flexible, safe, and welcoming space. By upgrading our facilities, we will provide contemporary, warm, and accessible areas for worship, learning, and community support.
The proposal seeks to convert the existing church office to a new toilet block utilising the current entrance space, used as a place to stop and chat, as a new open office and reception/welcome desk area. The new toilet block would have baby changing facilities and include a fully accessible WC within easy, level access of the main church hall. A new side window is proposed to the newer North Porch timber clad wall allowing natural light into the dimly lit through space being converted to the new open office and reception space.
New full height hardwood double glazed doors are proposed to the North Porch Entrance to further improve light levels within the reception area as well as providing a much more welcoming point of entrance to the church from the street. The enlarging of the existing vestry WC, organisation of storage and relocation of existing sink isa minor cosmetic alteration that does not involve changes or removal of the fabric of the building.
Photo From the archive of Alywn Ladell
