Acton Green Pavilion
CHRIST CHURCH W4
The intention is to expand the church’s facilities and to integrate it further within the community, providing a place for worship and friendship, and ensuring everyone feels accepted, and valued.
The parish of Christ Church Turnham Green serves a diverse and growing population of more than 8,000 people, with a mix of young adults, families, and seniors.
St Alban’s, originally in South Acton, was incorporated into the parish in 2015 and has since developed a strong congregation. Church attendance and ministry engagement have grown significantly, with four congregations and an active youth presence. 20% of the current congregation are young adults.
The parish runs three buildings (and one church hall which is let on a long-term basis to a private school with a repairing lease). Each building hosts a multitude of uses, including support groups, youth and young adult groups, activities for seniors, and many sessions for toddlers and their carers.
Existing Capacity
The current worshipping hall provides a capacity total of 397m² which equates to a capacity of 264 occupants (1.5m² pp) seated and 794 (0.5m² pp) standing at maximum capacity. These figures do not accommodate for obstructed viewing areas, circulation and the division of age groups based on noise and activity for the Sunday service.
The Sunday service often exceeds 150 total worshippers, with a total of 333 members enrolled. The church has seen an increase in worshippers over the last year with an ambition of expanding over the following years.
The church currently shares 4 toilets split between one primary bathroom and a smaller secondary.
There are no kitchen facilities within the church forcing the church group to hire ovens and cooking facilities for large venue hires such as weddings, funerals & private events.
The church currently struggles to store items required for larger events, forcing them to hire items such as tables, chairs and portable bathrooms at an expense.
Church Growth & Attendance
Overall Sunday includes 3 congregations + a youth congregation Electoral Roll: 333 members 90+ children (ages 0-16) in worship on Sundays with good representation of older teenagers and young adults
Sunday congregation regularly exceeds 170, including children, creating a need for additional spaces.
“We have had to relocate and scatter most of our children and youth meetings at one of our other buildings and to the home of a church family who live locally. This involves round trip walks of circa 15-20 minutes and crossing busy roads twice. This has understandably raised safety concerns amongst some parents and carers within the congregation.
Our strong preference is to be able to provide for our children and youth on a single site, close to their parents to properly meet and evidence our safety and safeguarding obligations.”
Need for Accommodation
“Our ability to recruit, train and develop young Christian leaders is increasingly constrained by the cost of accommodation in West London. We have also considered, and again relied on, some of our congregation to provide accommodation for some of our Worship and Youth leaders.”
Proposed Ground Floor
The ground floor is organised around a centralised ‘Honeypot’ entrance space, establishing a clear and welcoming point of arrival from which all principal rooms can be accessed. The redesigned western landscape improves the approach to the church, while the recessed glazed entrance and reduced canopy create a contemporary threshold that remains visually subservient to the existing church building.
Internally, the entrance lobby provides access to a platform lift and staircase serving the first-floor residential accommodation. A separate landscaped approach and secure ‘front garden’ define the residential entrance, creating a clear distinction between public church functions and private living spaces while ensuring security and amenity for residents.
The proposed ground floor accommodates the church’s primary functions for both weekends where they see the most amount of traffic to weekdays.
Honeypot centred to the scheme
Soft play located away from sensitive rooms
Retaining as much of the existing church’s envelope as possible
Community spaces applied to address service days and to close off for AA and recovery groups
Increased bathroom capacity
Large kitchen for events
Increased storage provision
Level access throughout the space
Improved landscape
Improved relationship with Acton Green Common
Proposed First Floor
The proposed first floor living accommodation provides seven 19.5m² rooms with a dedicated shared kitchen living room and terrace.
Each room has a en-suite, double bed, storage, desk with seating in a small living area.
The shared kitchen facilities are located at the southern end of the plan accessed from a communal corridor which shares views towards the church and the proposed green roof.
The kitchen and living space share a south facing terrace overlooking the common.
The ancillary accommodations front entrance will occupy the entire western elevation.
The residents will have access to the front door through a separated ‘front garden’ defined by a fence that creates a separation from the wider landscaped area of the church.
The separation between the landscaped area and the ‘front garden’ gives a sense of security for the residents and distinguishes the spaces between each use.
Design Principles
The proposed extension to the church will establish a new pavilion fronting Acton Green Common, creating a strong civic presence and a contemporary focal point for the surrounding public realm.
Drawing inspiration from the historic “park pavilion” typology found throughout London’s parks and commons, the design is conceived as a flexible and welcoming community building that supports worship, gathering, learning and public activity.
Positioned alongside the existing church, the pavilion is designed as a contemporary architectural addition that complements the historic character of the church . It acts as an outward-facing gesture, strengthening the church’s presence on the common and fostering greater connection between the church, its congregation and the wider neighbourhood.
The design approach for the pavilion is achieved through a set of five key moves summarised as follows.
Removal of the condemned scout hut and associated satellite outbuildings to declutter the site and unlock space for a coherent new extension.
Expanding the pavilion footprint to provide flexible and generous accommodation for Sunday service groups and a range of community activities.
Integrating the new community spaces with the existing church through a centralised shared hub, improving circulation, connectivity and opportunities for informal gathering.
Placing a green roof above the ‘Honeypot’ with skylights to add daylight into the circulation space whilst adding accommodation at the first floor facing towards Acton Green Common.
Introducing a distinctive first-floor roof form that references the neighbouring gabled roof lines along South Parade, tying the pavilion into its surrounding context.
Feedback & Next Steps
Have we met our goals for the scheme?
Provide key community space for the Christ Church W4 Acton Green Sunday service
Add accommodation for Ancillary uses within the church’s grounds
Increase the bathroom capacity meeting the growing number of occupants
Add a kitchen / cooking services within the pavilion
Create a flexible open community space that has the ability to close down and separate
Provide a soft play element within the addition
Improve the external boundary treatment facing Acton Green Common
Provide a new landscaped garden area around the proposed pavilion and grounds
Retain the existing trees within the site
We aim to submit a planning application to London Borough of Ealing Council shortly and we are keen that our application properly reflects your views. We therefore, welcome your comments at this stage.
We would be grateful if you would take a few minutes to complete a feedback form.
It is our intention to keep both local residents and community groups fully consulted throughout the planning process.
If you have any questions or if you would like to tell us about any other issues affecting the local area, please contact us by the following: