Securing Church Buildings Through Design

As a design practice, we are passionate about working with existing church buildings and using architecture as a catalyst for positive change. Through our experience with 20 + churches dotted across the UK, we have developed tailored design proposals for a wide range of denominations, settings and building types, each proposal responding to its own distinct challenges and opportunities. Our work focuses on bringing renewed life and long-term resilience to these extraordinary spaces.

Many churches share common concerns: reducing maintenance costs, unlocking the potential of their buildings and sites, improving usability, strengthening engagement with the wider community, above all ensuring the building can continue to support the church’s mission for generations to come.

Our approach centres on careful adaptation and reuse. By working with what already exists, we help churches remain relevant, sustainable, and welcoming, while addressing long-term maintenance and environmental performance.

If you are considering a church project, we would be delighted to discuss how we can help reimagine the potential of your building. We have also published a dedicated brochure showcasing our work in this sector, which you can view here.

Build It’s Best of Self Build & Renovation

We’re delighted to see Brockenhurst House featured in Build It’s Best of Self Build & Renovation supplement, which showcases the award-winning projects from the 2025 Build It Awards.

Brockenhurst House was the winner of the Extensions & Renovation category. The judges praised the project for its beautifully detailed, fabric-first approach, highlighting how thoughtful design can be truly transformative, even within an average budget.

The scheme reimagines a tired 1970s property as a contemporary, low-energy home. Carefully tailored to support the owners’ needs, the design incorporates a high degree of flexibility, ensuring the house is resilient, adaptable and future-proofed for years to come.

Courtyard House, January Project Update

We visited the Courtyard House site last week, located in the New Forest near the village of Burley, and were delighted to see that the building is now ‘watertight’; an important milestone in the construction process.

With the glazing fully installed and the roof now tiled, the project is now completely enclosed and protected from the elements. This marks a key transition on site, allowing the construction team to move their focus to the internal works, including plumbing, electrics, and finishes. From this stage on, the scheme will begins to feel more like a home and less like a building site.

Internally, the house feels spacious and filled with natural light, something we have worked incredibly hard to achieve on this narrow site. The internal courtyards, carefully cut into the building form, respond to the constraints of the elongated plot by drawing daylight deep into the plan and strengthening the connection between inside and out.

We look forward to sharing further updates as this New Forest residential project continues to take shape.

January 2026 studio update

In this roundup, we’re pleased to start the year with news about our new Sheffield church project, update from the Brick Pavilion in Chichester, and details of Darren’s recent RIBA Hampshire lecture.

To keep in touch with our news, you can sign up to the practice updates here. 

Sheffield Church Development

We are thrilled to have started to expand our reach, and are currently working on a comprehensive feasibility study for the existing buildings at St Thomas’s Church in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

The study has reviewed the condition, layout, and long-term potential of the church’s built assets, with the aim of ensuring the property continues to support both the congregation and the wider community in a sustainable and meaningful way. We look forward to sharing more updates from the scheme as the design develops, to see more details about the project click here. 

Brick Pavillion Planning Submitted

We have submitted our designs that reimagine the Brick Pavillion located in Priory Park, Chichester, West Sussex.

Working with Chichester Community Development Trust (CDT) we have explored the potential and redevelopment of this locally significant building which has been vacant, and neglected for years. Our designs look to transform the building into a vibrant community facility, integrating the pavilion with the existing park amenities. For more details of the scheme, click here.

RIBA Hampshire

Darren was invited to take part in the RIBA Hampshire Lecture series, as part of their ‘Lightning Talks’ session alongside five other Hampshire based practices.

During the event, each speaker was giving a short time to deliver a concise talk explaining how small moves have generated big impact in their projects. Darren discussed the work Studio BAD delivered at St Margaret’s Church in Portsmouth, reinterpreting the church building to drawing people to reengage with this incredible building – read more about the project here.

Progress at Courtyard House, New Forest

Update from our Courtyard House, the SIPs built new build home in the heart of the New Forest National Park.

We are delighted with the positive progress on the build since we visited site a month ago. The scaffolding has now been removed, and we can now admire the architectural language and the lines of this contemporary home.

Constructed using Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), the finished project will be an extremely high performing, low energy home. The design of the new home offers a greatly improved spatial plan for the tight, elongated site, with two cut-outs made in the form of courtyards to break up the linear nature of the single storey home. Each of the internal courtyard offers private moments to pause, enhancing the sense of space without increasing the footprint of the dwelling.

To read more project details click here. 

RIBA Lecture ‘Lightning Talks’

Darren has been invited to take part in the RIBA Hampshire 2026 Lecture ‘Lightning Talks’ alongside five other Hampshire based practices. During the event, each speaker will be giving a short and concise talk explaining how small moves have generated big impact in their projects.

Alongside Darren will be architects from;
Anthony Munden Architects
Hamilton Architects
Keith Evans Architects
Deniz Beck Architects
Giles Architects

You can book your ticket by visiting eventbrite site here.