Community
CHURCHES THROUGHOUT THE UK AND THE WORLD THAT HAVE BEEN CONVERTED FOR COMMUNITY USE
The Sherriff Centre, West Hampstead
Type: Community + Worship
Use: Soft Play Area + Cafe + Community Spaces + Worship
Photo Credit: Sherriff Centre
The Grade II listed St James’ Church in West Hampstead has been converted into The Sherriff Centre, a thriving community hub that combines a working post office, café, children’s soft play area, and meeting spaces while retaining its function as a place of worship. The adaptation has revitalised the church, providing essential local services and social spaces within its historic interior, ensuring the building remains active, self-sustaining, and central to community life.
De Petrus, Vught, Netherlands
Type: Community
Use: Library + Museum + Community Space
Architects: Molenaar & Bol & vanDillen Architecten
Photo Credits: Thomas Guignard/ Jeroen Pulles
The former St Pieter Catholic Church in Vught has been transformed into De Petrus, a vibrant community hub that brings together a library, museum, café, exhibition space, and meeting areas under one roof. The 19th-century neo-Gothic church was carefully restored, with its soaring arches and stained glass preserved to create an open, light-filled interior. This award-winning conversion has given the building a new civic purpose, making it once again a focal point of local life while celebrating its historic and architectural significance.
