Charlotte Chapel

Lee Boyd were successful in a limited competition to provide architectural services for Charlotte Chapel who have moved to St George’s West Church in the centre of Edinburgh. St George’s West (A Listed) is an unusual Baroque Revival 19th Century church and is significantly larger than their previous building. 

Although the building required essential refurbishment and reorganisation, the opportunities for flexibility and multiple use have given Charlotte Chapel the potential to grow further and expand their mission. The project involved major reorganisation of the lower ground floor to create flexible multi-purpose rooms and reworking of the sanctuary to increase its flexibility and potential for different types of performance (included removal of pews and redesign of stage). 

A significant part of the final proposals was the renewal of the building’s services and the careful integration of this with the new and existing layouts.

Credits : Photographs by Keith Hunter Photography

Lee Boyd did an excellent job of listening to what our priorities are as a church and then coming up with a design that made the most of the opportunities to refurbish the building we purchased in Shandwick Place.

The completed project has exceeded our expectations as a Christian community. The addition of a second staircase into a transformed basement has created multi-functional spaces and rooms to accommodate our different ministries.

The sympathetic pods added into the main room has enhanced our community life as people now stay for much longer after our formal meeting times are over. We were also helpfully guided through the choices of colour schemes and materials that have helped create an attractive and functional place for our church to meet in.”

Paul Rees, Lead Pastor of Charlotte Chapel

Charlotte Chapel