St Cyrus Church
Community Space for Church
Completed 2019
St Cyrus Church is a Listed Grade B building, designed by the architect David Mitchell (of Montrose) and completed in 1854. With a steep ashlar octagonal spire and Gothic architecture, the church has a spectacular clifftop setting, and is a local landmark.
The church has recently been renamed as Mearns Coastal Parish Church as three local congregations have been merged into one, now all worshipping at St Cyrus. The brief was to create a new flexible open-plan space that could be used by all the community, and which was separated acoustically from the main church. This would allow children to use the space when a service was taking place on a Sunday. Throughout the week the space was also to be used for coffee mornings, mother and baby groups, and meetings.
The congregation wanted to retain the beautiful pitch pine timber pews and resisted the conventional solution of removing the pews to create a flexible open-plan space on the Ground Floor. The congregation also needed an internal WC.
The design solution was to look to the First Floor for the additional space that was needed. The sloping balcony area above the nave was altered to create a new level platform, with a lift providing disabled access, a disabled WC, a kitchenette, and a spacious meeting area. A fixed window looks over the nave, providing balcony views over the nave, whilst keeping the sound in. The large lancet window to the south elevation now pours sunlight directly into the new social space on the first floor.
