The project creates nine new homes including a new vicarage, on behalf of the Diocese of London at John Keble Church in Mill Hill. The project is part of the Diocese of London’s continuing strategy to make the best use of its property assets to serve its growing congregations in the city.

Our brief was to create a replacement vicarage, financed through the sale of private housing elsewhere on the site, The existing vicarage had become unsuitable as clergy housing; uneconomic to heat and cool and set in the centre of grounds now too large to effectively maintain. 

Our approach was to respond to the context of the site, which is dominated by the impressive John Keble Church, designed by D.E. Martin-Smith and consecrated in 1936. Five family homes arranged on a north-south axis are bookended by the new Vicarage to the south and a cluster of three new apartments to the north. 

Responding to the backland setting, the design of the homes seeks to utilise a recognizable architectural language with references to the suburban context. Clad in light grey brick, careful attention to detail has been paid to the modulation of the facade and the design of the entrances and approach to each new home.

The design of the vicarage has been carefully considered to balance privacy and amenity – the vicarage is both a family home and a space where clergy receive parishioners. 

Protected trees are used as the basis for a mature and ambitious landscaping scheme; in an area where car ownership is high we have used the landscape to create a space where people rather than vehicles are prioritized.