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Architectural Drawing

July 1988 (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
Materials and techniques
Pencil and coloured pencil on paper
Brief description
Study for the east end of St Paul's Church, Harringay, London, by Peter Jenkins of Peter Inskip and Peter Jenkins Architects, pencil and coloured pencil on tracing paper, London, July 1988
Physical description
Study sectional drawing of the east end of St Paul's Church on tracing paper in pencil and coloured pencil (scale 1:50). The drawing shows the black joinery of the west doors and organ case with the western spaces illuminated by the full height gridded windows at the termination of the nave; the narthex arch (as its final colour) under the organ gallery with the west day light reflecting structure above.
Dimensions
  • Height: 843mm
  • Width: 595mm
Credit line
Given by Peter Jenkins
Subject depicted
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) "Study sectional drawing of the east end on A1 tracing paper in pencil and coloured pencil, scale 1:50, noted as by PJ, dated July 88,The drawing shows the black joinery of the west doors and organ case with the western spaces illuminated by the full height gridded windows at the termination of the nave; the narthex arch (as its final colour) under the organ gallery with the west day light reflecting structure above. The organ pipe configuration was not finalised at this stage. Note the two projecting ledges on each side of the narthex to carry statues of St Anthony of Padua and St Paul. These figures were eventually made by the sculptor Danny Clahane and set on steel channel ledges, but both on the south side. The font had not been commissioned at this stage. The drawing was made as part of a series of studies which includes STP (A)46."
  • 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
STP(A)21 - Previous number
Collection
Accession number
E.142-2022

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Record createdJune 10, 2019
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