Urbis Interview: Ravensbourne's Architecture and IDEAs lookbook URBIS 2017 GRADUATE BOOK | Page 57

St Dunstan’s in the East is a small
former church in Central London.
It was a Church of England parish
church on St Dunstan’s Hill,
halfway between London Bridge
and the Tower of London. The
church was largely destroyed in
the Second World War and the
ruins are now a public garden.
Originally built in about 1100,
the church underwent numerous
changes and additions, and was
severely damaged in the Great
Fire of London in 1666. Rather
than being completely rebuilt, the
damaged church was patched up
between 1668 and 1671. A steeple
was added in 1695–1701 to the
designs of Sir Christopher Wren,
built in a Gothic style sympathetic
to main body of the church. From
2003 the parsonage has been
used as an alternative medicine
centre. The chapel continues to
be used for services a minimum of
four times a year and has its own
separate public access.
Because the church is not in use
as religious institution, it allows us
to look at this site more globally,
not just from religious side, but
as a portal between physical and
spiritual world. With this project,
I want to create a hidden small
place, which will have two specific
functions of giving opportunity
to specific user groups to make
their own personal decision about
life and death, without any social
censure. This place is completely
about help: psychological or
physical, without going against
one’s principles.
X St Dunstan-in-the-East
Dunstan’s Hill, London
EC3R 5DD
User groups
01
02
[01] Location Map (outlined in Red, show it in the UK, in
London, in Borough [02] North Elevation and section
[03] User groups for Proposal
03
The Choice