Located in the pretty Sussex village of Angmering, St Margaret’s is one of the largest evangelical churches in the Chichester Diocese with a thriving congregation drawn from a growing local population. Its dictum is ‘to know Jesus Christ better and make him better known’ and it is this sentiment that has driven forward a challenging project to deliver a church that is designed for the Church Family’s vision of their mission in the 21st century. The project is significant as the church is just one of a handful of Grade II* listed churches to receive consent for such a major re-ordering in the 21st century. With parts dating back to medieval times the church was substantially developed during the fifteenth century. In the 1850s, Samuel Sanders Tuelon, the renowned Victorian architect, carried out a major re-ordering and further extension of the church. It is an impressive architectural heritage but one which the Church Family felt could impede St Margaret’s future liturgy and mission. As a forward-looking church reaching out into the community a major problem was the lack of welcome afforded by a small south porch used as the main entrance which was neither visible from the village or to passers by. Once inside the church this was compounded by the absence of a coherent ‘welcome’ area. Under-used sections of the church, poor sightlines and uncomfortable and inflexible pews restricted both religious and community activities. In addition there was a lack of ancillary facilities for both the church users and the busy parish office. Lee Evans Partnership’s prime architectural objective was to create a building which would act as an inviting beacon and welcome the local community and their guiding principle was always to only make changes essential for the church’s purpose. To make the best use of the site, in what might seem a radical move, an incongruous 20th century extension has been demolished and the entrance relocated to the eastern façade of the church in one of two new gabled extensions. Uncomplicated, direct and completely contemporary the new extensions are in fact inspired by Tuelon’s original design and reinstate a three-gabled rear elevation to the approaching visitor or observing bystander. It is a space efficient solution. The extensions, featuring striking contemporary symbolic etched and enamelled glass by Chichester artist Mel Howse, sit on the same building line as the demolished one storey office/vestry extension. In the new south gabled extension, the church gains an impressive new entrance that is both welcoming and clearly visible to the visitor - fulfilling the basic tenets of all successful public buildings. New glass doors, accommodated in the entrance’s glasswork façade, have a horizontal sandblasted detail (providing manifestation for the visually impaired) and lead through to a welcome area. A secondary entrance has been formed through the wall of the Gratwick Chapel, an under-utilised space within the church, and the chapel’s original fine stained glass window still functions as glazed art, borrowing light through the intentionally simpler lower part of the façade design. The new north gabled extension accommodates spacious ancillary facilities over two floors. The ground floor contains a kitchen, WC and office/meeting room and upstairs a parish office with ample storage. There is logical access from the chancel and also from outside through an existing door on the north side of the church. Inside the church space is maximised. The pulpit has been removed and replaced with an attractive bespoke mobile lectern and the historic Tuelon lectern and font have been repositioned. The choir stalls have also been removed and an area for the music group and organ console created at the side of the north east aisle. The majority of the pews have been removed (two sample pews and the churchwardens’ pew have been retained for posterity) and replaced by chairs which can be easily reconfigured. To minimise energy consumption underfloor heating has been installed beneath a new oak floor. A new baptistery has also been installed. (All the ecclesiastical furniture that has been removed has been gifted to other churches in the UK.) It was important that the building form, the materials used and the standard of craftsmanship should add value to its surroundings and make a positive contribution to the lives of its users. All the building materials used in the works were selected to complement existing materials used in the church and the structure and finishes co-ordinate well. Materials are appropriate and of the highest quality and include handmade clay tiles on the pitched roofs of the new extensions, field flint and Hartham Park Stone (‘Bath Stone’) in the new elevations, and oak and English sycamore in the interior detailing and new cabinetry. Modern and bold in form the new flint and stone extensions demonstrate the exemplary craftsmanship of the stonemasons. Well constructed and finished with robust and appropriate detailing the common narrative of materials used creates a visual link between the old and the new and serves to contrast and highlight the best qualities of each. There was a conscious intention - the masons undertook a meticulous study of the existing flintwork to establish a context for the new work - to have a slightly different style of laid flint to make the new work stand apart yet harmonise with the existing fabric. The sleek lines of the stones of the new extensions - each individually cut to produce a straight and clean appearance - again contrast with the more roughly hewn stones used in the original structure. In addition the elegant new stone window arches are skilfully formed and act as an effective foil to the heavier arches of the existing windows. Inside the stonemasons have painstakingly reinstated memorial plaques from the disturbed east wall of the Gratwick Chapel to its south wall. In an age characterised by mass production and standardisation the craftsmanship of the new ecclesiastical furniture and cabinetry is superb. Bespoke cabinet-makers, Simon Jewell Designs (SJD), whose past commissions include work at Lambeth Palace, fashioned the handsome communion table, mobile lectern and mobile font from oak inlaid with English sycamore detailing. SJD was also commissioned to make the new baptistery cover, a key feature of the new oak flooring, as well as new vestry and music cupboards. The decision to capitalise on a rare opportunity to install a modern piece of spiritual glasswork into a listed medieval and Victorian church is central to the success of the scheme - indeed this was seen as pivotal in securing the Faculty for the works. Mel Howse, whose impressive body of work includes both national commissions and extensive work throughout Sussex, has produced two distinctively different but complementary panels of etched and enamelled art-glass glazing. Lit from behind St Margaret’s striking glasswork creates an inviting beacon to welcome the approaching visitor and attract the attention of passers by. The design also makes a series of visual links with the existing stained glass windows and is informed by the church’s architectural form, its internal decoration and the existing fabric of the screen, connecting the contemporary extensions to the original structure. Functionally the new glasswork removes visual barriers and creates partial see-through to the space beyond so that villagers can see life in the church seven days a week, dispelling any image of an empty unused building, like so many other of Britain’s parish churches.