St Andrew Holborn

by DaeWha Kang Design

Client Saint Andrew Holborn Guild Church Council

Award RIBA London Award 2024

St Andrew Holborn is a Grade I listed church which was reduced to ruins in the Second World War and rebuilt in 1961, in the main respecting Christopher Wren’s original late 17th century design. It is a guild church, without a designated parish, and over the years had seen a drop in visitor numbers.

The project’s aim was to restore its potential and enable a flexibility of uses, opening the building up both physically and spiritually to welcome and be accessible to all. The interior has been decluttered. Within its white and pale decor, the material palette is restrained, and there is a clear distinction between old and new. The immediate sense on entering is that of a place of solace, a haven of silence in the city. The architects have remade a space that is serene, light, and calm, capturing simplicity while retaining grandeur.

Read the full citation from the RIBA Awards Jury on RIBA Journal.

Contractor Chichester Stoneworks

MEP, Lighting and Sustainability Atelier Ten

Structural Engineer The Morton Group

Quantity Surveyor / Cost Consultant Greenwood

Heritage Consultants Donald Insall Associates

Gross internal area 1000 m²