Perivale Church Undergoes Major Transformation

Funded by new housing development built alongside St Nicholas'

A local church in Perivale has been totally refurbished due to funding from a new housing development.

(How it was)

St Nicholas was built in 1963 by architect Laurence King and despite opposition from conservationists, The Twentieth Century Society, permission was given to demolish it in 2013.

asra Housing Group teamed up with the London Diocese, Ealing Council and the Parish Church Council and given the go ahead to build 17 new homes and transform the church.

The £3.5m development at Bethlehem Close now provides seven houses, six are shared ownership and one is a rented property offering wheelchair access. There are also ten apartments for affordable rent above the church itself, as well as a carbon-neutral vicarage and a new church hall.

The London Diocese had been looking at ways of replacing St Nicholas’ for more than 15 years, with the aim of modernising its facilities. Local residents and the congregation were involved in designing the new facilities which include a pool to enable full-immersion baptisms and a large feature filled with holy water. The green church roof which had been a landmark of the local area has also been replaced with a white spire complete with illuminated cross.

William Cornall, Group Director of Development & Commercial Services at asra, said:

''These partnership projects are incredibly important as they enable us to provide much-needed new community facilities in close proximity to our new affordable homes. Rather than purchasing more conventional development sites, asra pays for the construction of these facilities on existing sites within the community, meaning everything we invest is going back into the neighbourhoods in which we work.''

4th May 2016