AccessThe upper floor has stepless access from Lawn Terrace, andthe lower floor has stepless access from Independents Road. Inaddition to the internal stairs, there are external steps betweenthe two levels.

Quaker principles in the buildingQuaker meetings are based on silent worship, and the mainmeeting room is behind two sets of doors. The transition fromthe lobby to the meeting room, through a 180-degree turn andvia stepped walls and ceiling heights, encourages a sense ofconcentration (‘centring down’ in Quaker jargon) and of aprogress into light – an important metaphor in Quakerism. Inthe absence of a minister, altar or other point of focus, seats arenormally arranged in a circular or square pattern. Followingthe Quaker principle of simplicity, decoration is minimal; mostwall surfaces are bare concrete or brick, or painted blockwork,although some are plastered. Quaker meeting houses normallycontain no conventional Christian symbols, but the architecthere included a discreet croix pattée – well out of reach.

UsageMeeting for Worship takes place on Sundays at 10.30 am. Likemost Quaker meetings (see www.londonquakers.org.uk),Blackheath aims to offer a service to the community by hiringout the Meeting House for other purposes. Current and pastusers include playgroups, children’s music groups, otherchurches, AA, NA, and yoga and Pilates groups. The acousticsof the main meeting room offer an excellent compromisebetween the needs of speech and music.

Peace GardenPart of a national initiative, the Peace Garden aims to define thethreshold to the building, to utilise lost space and to form partof the ‘centring’ process – welcoming to all, open to passers-byyet easily supervised when used by children.

HistoryBefore the construction of the new Meeting House, BlackheathQuaker Meeting used to meet in the church hall of the adjacentCongregational Church, and had a close relationship with thatchurch. The Meeting House was built on land leased from theCongregationalists, and included facilities that were originallyfor joint use. When the Congregational and PresbyterianChurches merged at a national level, the main church buildingand its hall were sold. Also see the History and Building pagesat www.blackheathquakers.org.uk.

BlackheathQuaker Meeting House

Lawn Terrace • Blackheath • London SE3 9LL

Key factsClient Six Weeks Meeting of the Religious

Society of Friends (Quakers), London

Brief issued 1967

Construction September 1971 to September 1972

Contract price £37842 (£136.1/m2)

Upstairs room 82.12 m2 (884 ft2)

Lower room 54.81 m2 (590 ft2)

Upstairs lobby 57.97 m2 (624 ft2)

Architect Trevor Dannatt, London(now Dannatt, Johnson Architects LLP)

Structural engineer Ted Happold, Ove Arup

Acoustics consultant Hugh Creighton

Main contractor Mansell

Awards Civic Trust Award 1973Concrete Society Commendation 1974

Phot

ogra

phs

©20

09,2

010,

2013

Ric

hard

Pick

vanc

e

� a good neighbourly building where the architectural concept is enhancedby the quality of detailing and workmanship of the finished product �

Civic Trust Award citation

Bibliography/linksTrevor Dannatt, ‘Architects’ approach to

architecture’ series, RIBA Journal (March1969) 98–105

Trevor Dannatt, Buildings and Interiors,1951–72, Lund Humphries, 1972

Arup Journal, Vol. 9 (1974) 21–3Architectural Review, Vol. 9 (1974) 266–9Concrete, Vol. 8.6 (1974) 41David Butler, The Quaker Meeting Houses of

Britain, Friends Historical Society, 1999Roger Stonehouse, Trevor Dannatt: Works

and Words, Black Dog Publishing, 2008

Architect’s website: http://trevordannatt.comQuaker websites:www.blackheathquakers.org.uk Blackheathwww.londonquakers.org.uk London areawww.quaker.org.uk Central site for Britain

Isometric ofstructure A

pril

20

StructureThe major structure of the building is in reinforced concrete.The main meeting room has cavity walls with a 9� concreteouter leaf and a blockwork inner leaf. (This is believed to bethe only concrete brutalist Quaker Meeting House in Britain.)On the lower floor the outside wall of the meeting room is inblockwork. Other areas are in Warnham Wealden light stocks.Internal walls are in brick, concrete or blockwork.

The roof of the main meeting room has an exposedstructure of steel tension members and timber compressionmembers, supporting a lantern. External covering isterne-coated stainless steel. The flat roof over the lobby andkitchen has a timber structure reinforced with steel at changesof level, and is finished in Sandene GRP with grey solar paint.

Upper floorThe plan is constrained by the limits of the 0.11 ha site andthe route of a main sewer.

The main meeting room is square with chamfered corners,and seats 100 in the usual seat layout. Although there is onesmall conventional window facing the road, the room is litmainly by the square lantern and by skylights at the fourcorners. Artificial lighting is arranged around the lantern andin the skylights, with spots supported by the steel rods of theroof structure. The interior surfaces of the roof are lined withKara Sea redwood. Ventilation is natural.

There is a large lobby with stairs leading to the lower floor,a kitchen with a serving hatch to the lobby, storerooms and awheelchair-accessible toilet.

Flooring is currently carpet tiles in the main meeting room,quarry tiles in the lobby.

Lower floorThe lower floor can be accessed either from its own exteriordoor at the end of Independents Road or via the stairs fromthe upper floor. It can also be separated from the upper floorby a metal screen.

The single long room uses space that was originally to beleft as a void. It has two doors and can be divided into two by aretractable screen. Cupboards were installed for the benefit ofsome users, e.g. playgroups, who need to store equipmentbetween sessions. Also on this level are a lobby, a kitchen,storerooms and unisex toilets, one wheelchair-accessible.

Four parking spaces fit within the curtilage of the buildingto meet local authority requirements.

Performance of the buildingBuilt within a tight budget, the Meeting House is a success andcontinues to give pleasure to its users. Various elements of thebuilding – heating, ventilation and wheelchair access – were oftheir time and would now be realised differently. The upstairslobby is too noisy for comfortable conversation.

Essential renewal works have been carried out in theoriginal idiom. Changes include:

n Second set of doors to main meeting room added – part oforiginal scheme, but initially omitted to save money.

n Heating changed from fan-assisted electric night storageheaters to fan-assisted h.w. radiators with gas-fired boiler.

n Kitchens renewed.n Paint colour scheme for upstairs lobby changed: originally

the colours changed gradually from dark neutral for thewalls of the lobby to pure white in the meeting room.

n Main roof covering changed from original zinc.n External lead details changed to Decothane after thefts.n Vents in the lantern now motorised.n Minor changes to lighting, including low-energy lamps.n Noticeboards installed in lobbies.n Installation of hearing loop in main meeting room.n Fire precautions updated to satisfy legal requirements.n Cupboards built in downstairs meeting room.n Peace Garden constructed 2010.n Refurbishment in 2013, including changes to downstairs

entrances and toilets, improvements to wheelchair accessthroughout and changes to flooring.

Upper floor plan, as originally built Lower floor plan, as originally built