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Longitudinal section of St Paul's Church Harringay

Architectural Drawing
ca. 1990 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Located in a residential area of Harringay, North London, St Paul’s was designed by Peter Jenkins between 1988 and 1993 to replace a Victorian Gothic Revival church (built 1890-1) which was destroyed by fire on Ash Wednesday 1984.

Jenkins’ church combines traditional liturgical forms with contemporary design. The plan of the church is traditional, being narrow and rectangular with the entrance at the west end and the altar at the east. This was in part dictated by the confines of the site, but also by the church’s Anglo-Catholic liturgical tradition which preferred an axial, processional plan. This traditional plan is in contrast to the majority of contemporary churches, which locate congregations around a central altar in order to emphasise the participatory aspect of the Communion.

In scale, Jenkins’ design echoes that of its Victorian predecessor, which was built to a vast scale, able to seat 900, and visually dominated the area’s skyline. Despite being a much smaller church in capacity, seating just 140, Jenkins has maintained the church’s visual dominance, making it an architectural and spiritual focal point in the surrounding area. This aspect of the design generated serious opposition from the local council, which argued – unsuccessfully – that the new church should blend in with the surrounding architecture.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleLongitudinal section of St Paul's Church Harringay (generic title)
Materials and techniques
pen and ink drawing on tracing paper
Brief description
Longitudinal section of St Paul's Church Harringay, ink on tracing paper, Peter Jenkins, London, ca. 1990
Physical description
Longitudinal section through the Church of St Paul Harringay. The drawing shows the groundwork and base emerging from the 1:6 eastwards slope of the site with the sacristy contained below the raised sanctuary within the nave at the east end; the high nave itself with the narthex and organ gallery above, the organ and bell chambers above the entrance at the west end.
Dimensions
  • Height: 838mm
  • Width: 594mm
Marks and inscriptions
SPH(A)01 (Handwritten in ink bottom left)
Credit line
Given by Peter Jenkins
Summary
Located in a residential area of Harringay, North London, St Paul’s was designed by Peter Jenkins between 1988 and 1993 to replace a Victorian Gothic Revival church (built 1890-1) which was destroyed by fire on Ash Wednesday 1984.

Jenkins’ church combines traditional liturgical forms with contemporary design. The plan of the church is traditional, being narrow and rectangular with the entrance at the west end and the altar at the east. This was in part dictated by the confines of the site, but also by the church’s Anglo-Catholic liturgical tradition which preferred an axial, processional plan. This traditional plan is in contrast to the majority of contemporary churches, which locate congregations around a central altar in order to emphasise the participatory aspect of the Communion.

In scale, Jenkins’ design echoes that of its Victorian predecessor, which was built to a vast scale, able to seat 900, and visually dominated the area’s skyline. Despite being a much smaller church in capacity, seating just 140, Jenkins has maintained the church’s visual dominance, making it an architectural and spiritual focal point in the surrounding area. This aspect of the design generated serious opposition from the local council, which argued – unsuccessfully – that the new church should blend in with the surrounding architecture.
Bibliographic references
  • Taken from notes by Peter Jenkins (Clare Lodge, Practice Archivist, 25/02/2016) "Longitudinal section through the church, ink on tracing paper, first earlier version of completed design presentation drawing for publication STP (A) 3 but as published in Architecture Today 43. p.41, November 1993. The drawing shows the groundwork and base emerging from the 1:6 eastwards slope of the site with the sacristy contained below the raised sanctuary within the nave at the east end; the high nave itself with the narthex and organ gallery above, the organ and bell chambers above the entrance at the west end. It shows the scale of the equilateral section roof in relation to the volumes it covers and encloses below and the daylight reflecting structures within its volume. These control daylight hierarchically as it enters from east and west, the west window and reflector is set back so the sanctuary is always more brightly lit than the western nave and organ gallery. In the centre a sealed chamberencloses the warm air heating equipment and distribution ducting. The main circular fresh air inlet aedicules are at the centre of the roof. Warmed air enters all spaces within the church from above. Projecting westwards, the great roof forms a portico over the western entry. "
  • Seeley, John, 'Phoenix Rising, St Paul's, Harringay' in Church Building (Summer 1990), p. 45
  • 'Clare Melhuish reports on the new church' in Church Building (Summer 1990), pp. 46-47
  • 'Detail: St Paul's, Harringay by Peter Inskip & Peter Jenkins' in Architecture Today, 17 (April 1991), pp. 88-89
  • Glancey, Jonathan, 'A temple of simplicity to soothe the soul', in The Independent, Wednesday 4 August 1993, p.13
  • Dorment, Richard, 'Putting high art above the altar', in The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, August 25, 1993, p. 12
  • Maxwell, Robert, 'Sacred Space: Inskip and Jenkins in Haringey' in Architecture Today, 43 (November 1993), pp. 36-41
  • 'New Church of St Paul, Harringay (GB)' in Eurozinc (1993), p. 13.
  • 'St Paul's Harringay, Review by Clare Melhuish and Michael Jones-Frank' in Church Building, Issue 28 (July/August 1994), pp. 31-33
  • 'Spiritual Elevation, St Paul's Church, Wightman Road, Harringay, London N4', in Brick Bulletin (Autumn, 1994), pp. 18-20
Other number
SPH(A)01 - Previous number
Collection
Accession number
E.102-2022

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Record createdMay 20, 2019
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