The transformation of St Thomas' Church, one of Newcastle's most prominent city centre landmarks, is nearing completion.
Just over £1m has been spent modernising the iconic building designed by John Dobson, which was built in 1830 and now sits majestically overlooking Haymarket Metro Station.
Contractors began renovating in February 2021, after a successful bid was made by Newcastle Diocese to the Church of England for funds to improve the accessibility, aesthetics and environmental-impact of the space.
The interior had begun to "look worse for wear" according to Vicar Ben Doolan, who was appointed in 2019 by the Bishop of Newcastle to catalyse a "new chapter in the church's history".
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Over the past ten months under his leadership, the downstairs area of the church has been tastefully transformed into a fluid, community-oriented space, which can now facilitate 400 people for a service.
To achieve this, the old Victorian pews were removed and storage space at the back of the church was reclaimed.
Ben, 34, said: "Our aim was to return the church to how John Dobson originally intended, and so we decided to get rid of some of the later design features.
"But we've made sure to repurpose, restore or move material around, so that we retain the important heritage features of this incredible church."
Examples include recycling the pews into new furniture, restoring the resplendent Victorian minton tiling and re-using the church's old oak panelling in different positions to create two sides rooms on the ground-floor.
One room will be home to an eco-friendly refill shop, selling ethically-sourced coffee and encouraging less use of plastic packaging, while the other, will serve as a youth work space.
Perhaps the most impressive new addition to St Thomas' is a walk-in font, dug in the shape of a celtic cross, that takes centre-stage on the church floor.
Ben explained: "We didn't have a font before - and so we knew we wanted one where an adult could be fully submerged. The steps on either side symbolise the person stepping out of their old life and into their new life with God.
"To get it finished we need to add glass panels with light underneath - which will illuminate the feature. We wanted something that was practical but also a piece of art."
Arguably the whole place is a piece of art, especially in the late morning, as light streams in via the south-facing stained glass windows and the mighty organ draws attention to the grandeur of the second floor.
The balconies, which previously had tiered pews, have been adapted into two airy hall spaces, separated from the nave by stylish panels of glass.
One side will house an open-planned office for the growing team of staff and the other will be a conference and learning space, both acoustically separated from the congregation below.
Ensuring all of these spaces are accessible and improving their energy efficiency has been a key concern for the team, working alongside designers Doonan Architects.
To meet these aims an elevator has been added to reach the upstairs learning space; a chair lift has been installed to reach the office and all of the downstairs area has been levelled, with no steps from street level.
The church has also introduced an environmentally friendly biomass boiler, double glazing to the windows and extra layers of insulation to the roofing and floor.
Although the construction work has hit a few snags due to Covid and supply chain issues, the doors will "soon" reopen to members of the public.
Ben said: "We can't wait to get in, and to start using the space for events all week long, because at the moment we are restricted to just Sunday service.
"It's important that a building like this in the heart of the city serves everyone - we want it to be a blessing to the people of Newcastle whether they are religious or not.
"It's about giving people a space where they feel they can belong."
Ben moved to Newcastle from his former church in York with a youthful team of 30 people, tasked with the job of reinvigorating and growing the St Thomas' community.
Since then his Sunday congregation, which takes place at St Hilda's in Jesmond while the construction is ongoing, has "grown from 15 people to around 190."
The team has worked hard to attract university students and young people working in the city, with the average age of a church-goer dropping to 23.
Ben said there's not a "magic formula" for this kind of growth, but that their success can be attributed to running plenty of outreach events, having a strong social media presence and high-quality live-streaming of services.
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