shedkm – Lighthouse Church, Wirral

Text provided by design practice.

The Lighthouse Church is designed to provide a renewed Christian presence and community service in the heart of Heswall, Merseyside. The building design revitalises community use, public engagement and the church’s mission to serve the town. The design approach is centred around embracing the congregation’s established ethos of welcome and hospitality, combined with improving the church’s visible presence on the high street to create a sense of place with a strong new identity: The Lighthouse Church.

The Lighthouse Church was designed to be a bold intervention, with a distinctive form and street presence, animating the street through the activity visible through the glazed front. Where the former buildings were inward-looking and unwelcoming, the new church faces outwards positively, addressing the street and inviting people to step inside. It re-establishes the church’s presence at the heart of the community, with a ‘shop window’ offering views in to the activities happening within.