Thames Christian School and Battersea Chapel in The RIBA Journal
August 2023
The RIBA Journal
Vol 130, Issue 07, July/August 2023
In the latest issue of The RIBA Journal, Richard Gatti describes how Henley Halebrown imposed a civic presence with Thames Christian School and Battersea Chapel despite a constrained south London site.
He notes that the building "gives civic presence to both institutions, while deftly managing requirements for privacy and security."
He goes on to recognise that the building enables a great deal of future flexibility: "This pursuit of adaptable space rather than fixed rooms for specific purposes has the potential to greatly expand the lifetime of the building, making the initial investment – in both carbon and cash terms – more sustainable."
Gatti concludes that "Though compact and constrained, this is a school that works hard for staff and pupils alike. All the teachers I met were extremely proud of their new building, with one suggesting that they were the finest facilities he’d used in his 40 years on the job – ‘saving the best till last,’ as he put it. It is also a building that works hard in its context – deftly managing the fine line between being an integral part of the estate, and being a noteworthy civic presence in its own right."
The article is available in print here and online here.