God Has Left the Building: The UK Church Conversion Boom

In Whalley Range in South Manchester stands the old St. Edmund’s Church: a great, imposing, though somewhat squat gothic building (there wasn’t enough money for Manchester’s first architect Henry Price to include a spire in his original design) with stunning stained-glass windows all around its large front column and centrepiece. 

Bought by property developers Gill and John Nono in 2002, who spent £2m on its conversion into high-spec residential apartments, the building now houses elite suburbanites willing to spend upwards of £215k on a flat within its confines, the price, of course, dependent on size, spec and natural light.

In the plot directly next door stands a small, somewhat scruffy, single-storey, redbrick building that’s more glorified portacabin than reverential tribute to ‘Our Lord who art in Heav’n’. And, yet, it is within this latter construction – also now named St. Edmund’s Church – that today’s parishioners go to worship the very same God who once took up residence in the big, fancy house next door. ‘Downsizing,’ we call it in the trade. And yet, all jokes aside, a clear example of the steep decline of Christianity in the UK.

In 2014, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams stated that the UK had become a ‘post-Christian country.’ And, whether or not this is true (Christianity was still the majority religion in the UK in the 2011 Census), understandably, church conversions like this are a contentious subject for British Christians, whose relegation to the minor leagues of architecture and interior design suggests a sense of fighting a slowly losing battle.

Most people see church conversions as really helping to revive what are, often, otherwise declining neighbourhoods

A recent survey by propertyfinder.com notes that church conversions are the single most popular choice for repurposing buildings as living spaces with 60% of respondents saying they’d rather live in a converted building than a purpose built one. Which must surely sting the good Christian folk right in the St. Christophers when they think of the relatively well-off folks repeatedly buying up houses of God from under Him.

It’s all developers, architects, interior designers and parishioners can collectively do to remind themselves of God’s alleged omnipresence (‘everywhere is a church!’) and that, ‘it’s OK, we’re doing the landscape a favour.’ Both of which it’s hard to argue with – unless, of course, you’re an atheist and prefer your abandoned churches in a roofless, boarded-up, graffitied and semi-ruinous state. Either way, you can’t get away from the fact that most people see church conversions as really helping to revive what are, often, otherwise declining neighbourhoods.

In its ‘toolkit for good practice,’ Heritage Works: The use of historic buildings in regeneration, The British Property Federation (BPF) agrees that, ‘it has been noticeable that careful integration of historic buildings and areas has played an increasingly significant, important and successful role in major regeneration schemes and in creating significant benefits for local economies and communities.’

But, before you start scouring the web for a church conversion project of your own (they’re, of course, fast disappearing in this decade’s rush to convert them), there are a few things you’re going to need to consider.

First of all, choose your church wisely. Whether it’s out in the middle of nowhere, part of a quaint village or plonked amidst the urban sprawl, the main thing you’re going to need to be sure of is just how much work needs to be done to make it architecturally sound and worth your investment. Beware of semi-converted, abandoned church projects. It’s not always a simple case of cash flow being behind the decision to halt work in its tracks. Planning permission, listed building consent and approvals from the church body could all play a part in in turning a grand design in to a colossal waste of money.

Beware of semi-converted, abandoned church projects. It’s not always a simple case of cash flow being behind the decision to halt work in its tracks.

Then there’s the sheer time and money you’re going to have to put into it. Basically, you’re going to need to take the respective amounts you think it’s going to take to do it and then double them. That’s what Gill and John Nono did when they bought St. Edmund’s in Manchester. After all, there’s absolutely no point taking on a project like this and then doing a half-hearted job of it. You’re going to want to be looking at high spec bathroom and kitchen furniture, fixtures and fittings. Materials like marble, wood, Corian® and solid surface that will complement the original features and subdue their opulent glory just enough to make the place truly appealing to prospective homebuyers.

If you have strong ideas about the interior design, make sure you only work with builders, plumbers and fitters who aren’t going to battle endlessly with you over the materials you choose, just because they get a discount with their preferred supplier. The right tradespeople can make a difference between utter perfection and, well, Emperor’s New Clothes. So, pick those who’ll work with you to find and fit the interiors you want.

I once lived in a flat within an old converted Post Office and awoke one night, around 3am, to a crashing sound that must have woken everyone on the entire floor of the building (and some of those downstairs, too, no doubt). When I popped my head out of my bedroom door, I saw that the fire door between the hallway and front room had fallen off its hinges and slammed flat onto the cheap laminate flooring. This is the last thing you want happening in an old church – even the most secular of homebuyers can be prone to fear of the wrath of God and a loud slam in the middle of the night could easily be misconstrued as such. Fair warning!

The right tradespeople can make a difference between utter perfection and, well, Emperor’s New Clothes

Having said all that, if you have true architectural vision, a church in mind and the budget to do it, you could be doing the landscape a serious favour and may well be able to kickstart a successful urban regeneration project that benefits the community far beyond just your own building. An ultimately altruistic outcome that even the most dismayed of displaced Christians can (and often do) get behind. After all, is there anything more reminiscent of the glory of God than a spectacular and well-kept building, erected in His name?

Amen.

Check out these 10 fantastic conversions that bring new architectural vision to old churches on Dezeen.