St Mary's Garden Hall

Situated on a lawn just south of the church, the new hall is primarily a single volume and largely single-aspect, facing the lawn, hemmed in by a roadside wall to the south.

The need to be able to divide the hall’s main space in two meant that the western half, not adjacent to the lawn, would be windowless. An open-textured dry-stone boundary wall is consistent with Pawson’s approach to the building.

The elemental sculpture of the architectural form intensifies the colours, textures and contrasts of materials, set off against white planes. There is limestone walling to the building, beech floors and sky coloured acid-etched glass.

The main glazed prism marks the junction of ancillary spaces (entrance, changing for ballet/fitness classes, kitchen) and the principal volume, playing different compositional roles from different angles. From the lawn the colour-weight of the etched glass acts as counterbalance to the larger area of the off-centre main glazed wall.