PSL Engineers were appointed by the Seventh Day Adventist Church alongside JAIA Architects to create a high quality extension to the existing Grade II listed Church that responded to both the clients brief and local planning policy. The existing church building was built to the designs of the Gothic Revival architect William Burges in 1867 to serve the village of Lowfield Heath. The site is located adjacent to the south perimeter of Gatwick Airport, and due to airport expansion is now the only building remaining from the former village.
The proposed scheme comprises a new amenity space and ancillary areas contained within a new extension, designed to compliment but not compete with the existing building. Due to the presence of commonwealth war graves and other potential archaeological interest in the church yard area, the proposed foundation solution required close coordination with Crawley Borough Council. This combined with local tree protection lead to a piled raft foundation supporting a lightweight steel and timber frame building. Architect: JAIA Architects.
