Radical new image planned for St Barnabas Church in Erdington
Dec 30 2009 by Edward Chadwick, Birmingham Mail
A HERITAGE watchdog has attacked radical plans which would deliver a modern twist to a listed church gutted by fire.
Architects unveiled a new vision for Erdington’s 1852-built St Barnabas Church, two years after a devastating blaze which left it an empty shell.
The blueprints propose a dramatic, sweeping steel roof and creating a glass-fronted foyer.
Artist’s impressions were met with a hostile response from the city council’s Conservation and Heritage Panel.
Experts on the advisory panel branded it “totally unacceptable” and a “carbuncle”.
The Grade II-listed church was ravaged in an arson attack in October 2007, which left nothing more than the stone walls standing.
It remains one of the city’s only surviving examples of design by the lauded architect Thomas Rickman and experts on the panel said the church’s unique character ought to be preserved and respected.
“The roof and the glass will come to dominate the building to the point that it will appear that you have a 19th century church sticking out of a modern structure,” said Andy Foster, of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
“It is a completely and totally unacceptable treatment of a historic and listed building.”
Barbara Shackley, of Warwickshire Gardens Trust, added: “We’re not opposed to the use of modern materials in this setting, but it is the form we have an issue with.
“It’s too innovative for a Gothic building and you have got to respect the original design.”
The plans showed a new glass wall curving round the side of the church to form a space around the entrance which could be used as a refreshment area.
Community meeting rooms would be included on the first floor and old and damaged headstones removed from the graveyard to create space.
But the man behind the scheme said he believed the modern design would attract new users from the community and said he had the backing of church leaders.
“We want to build a relationship between the church and the community and make it a place that people want to visit,” said Peter Brownhill.
“What we are proposing will speak very much of traditional design and materials.
“Our brief has been very much about enhancing what survived of the church.”
A planning committee will make a decision early in the new year.
