Brief 

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough had decided that the existing 100 years old Cathedral  had come to the end of it’s useful life and was now alien to the local population which had gradually shifted away from central Middlesbrough. The new Cathedral would be relocated to a new conurbation 5 miles south and would accommodate a seated congregation of 700 people together with Social facilities and a Presbytery.

Solution 

This was a unique opportunity to design a new purpose built place of worship and a radial design was developed to reflect the radically new liturgical changes and enable the congregation in the main body of the Nave  to “wrap-around” the sanctuary area and thus provide maximum opportunity to engage and participate in the services being performed.
 The Church Hall  and separate Blessed Sacrament Chapel were attached to the Nave and positioned to enable them to be used as overflow seated accommodation for the larger services. Construction throughout is in brick over a steel frame in an unusual configuration of intersecting and overlapping roof planes to create an unmistakably religious space.

Client

RC Diocese of Middlesbrough

Project value

£3M