The Kings Centre Southall

General information

Southall in West London is not an ordinary place. Known throughout the country for its South Asian shopping and restaurants, it is a place of huge diversity (ethnically and religiously), but also a place with real challenges and problems.

St Johns’ Old Church, built in 1838, remains the oldest church building in Southall. It is a place of burial and memorial, and the temptation would be to consign it to the past. The site (and adjoining public space) has over the years fallen into poor repair, and has become a site for anti-social activity.

But St Johns Church has a vision to use its land well, to restore this site, and develop it as a catalyst for regeneration in Old Southall. The vision is to redevelop the site to renew the true heart of Old Southall: a place of restoration and memory; of reconciliation and renewal; and of dynamism and regeneration. The vision is not to duplicate or replicate what already exists, but to provide a space for the restoration of people, the reconciliation of relationships, and for the educational, financial, spiritual and emotional flourishing of the community here.

The site will become a hub for interfaith activity amongst the diversity of religions present in Southall. The site will become a platform for community groups and events in contrast to the shrinking stock of community facilities in Southall. The site will become a catalyst for heritage and arts activities in the community. And the site will become a place for the church to be present in and engage with the community through its various programmes and activities for the wider community.

The site will incorporate:
- A renewed church building at the centre of the development, housing a multi-use open space for auditorium (over 100 people), civic gatherings, teaching space, hospitality or exhibition area.
- A new 2-storey community building including: a café and kitchen; teaching and meeting rooms; counselling suite with own reception area; and office and hot-desking space for community groups and social enterprise.
- A redeveloped garden as quiet space in the midst of old Southall, reflecting both the memorials of the previous graveyard and the wider heritage of Southall through a digital archive resource room as part of an educational project to collate the stories of the lives of the people of Southall.
- A renewed public space incorporating hard and soft-landscaped space to form a ‘swelling’ of the public realm at a key pedestrian corner, and one suitable for adaptation for public use and festivals.