St. Luke’s Church, Tiptree – Front Porch

Key Facts:

Client Name: St. Luke’s Church, Diocese of Chelmsford
Location: Tiptree, Essex
Type of client: Ecclesiastical
Discipline provided by M+C: Architectural Design | Planning Services | Building Regulations Services
Contractors: Blackwater Building Services
M+C Lead: Philip Ruffle

St Luke’s Church in Tiptree is part of the Deanery of Witham within the Diocese of Chelmsford. The Church is made up of a Victorian Church building, built of local brick and an impressively large clay-tiled roof. The main church building was built in 1855, and features a vaulted roof and circular apse. The church was built at a cost of £1850! Adjacent is a more recent church hall and function room constructed in 1975.

To improve the flow of the church, and provide visitors with additional dry cover when entering the building, a new porch received planning permission from the Local Authority.
Additional construction detailing work, as well as building regulations drawings and detail were required by the appointed contractors; Blackwater Building Services.

The proposed porch was designed using a lightweight, oak-frame construction, with a glazed roof to provide a distinct visual break between the Victorian church and the later church hall. It’s dimensions were derived so as to all pall-bearers to remain dry whilst funeral attendees are seated.

Munday + Cramer were appointed by Blackwater to provide these architectural design services. The design was developed to ensure it respected the conservation area in which the church is located, and that construction avoided unsightly roofing valleys through remaining a standalone porch.

The pitched roof and gable-front also provides a visual reference to the existing church hall windows.

Enhancing the design further, two crosses have been incorporated; within the wooden gable, and also on the floor before the main church doors. New doors to the main building and external hard landscaping have further improved the visual impact of the new porch.

Throughout the process, Munday + Cramer provided 3D visual mock-ups of the proposed amendments, enabling far greater client-integration in to the re-design/detailing activities.