St Barnabas Church

The gentle rising curved volumes of the worship space characterise and focus the appearance of the church in the city. The worship space, with its folding floor that wraps up around the congregation and opens up to soft cloud-like ceilings, is conceived like an open-hand under the sky; a warm, protective, generous and light-fill space. Complementing the worship space is the counter-curved form of the foyer and social-heart that rises in a gesture of welcome and invitation to the central landscaped courtyard.

Separating these curved forms and courtyard from the street are the linear sheltering frame and canopies that define the entrance streetscape and steps up to the courtyard. These fine frames of off-form concrete open to the street though large windows that accommodate the shop and meeting spaces beneath the awning canopies that project out over the footpath.

The forms of this church are structured, assembled and finished in simple, modest materials; concrete, compressed cement sheet, steel and glass.