St Augustine's Liturgical Furniture

St Augustine’s Liturgical Furniture

United Kingdom, 2017–18

New confession booths were formed, delicately detailed to echo the form of the internal vaulted ceilings. The floor level of the altar was raised and reconfigured, with a large slab of green marble, which must have sat rather heavily as a backdrop to one of the side altar, transformed by being carefully integrated into the high altar floor. Combined with a large, beautifully formed cast iron circular light fitting, this subtly defines the aura of the high altar, reinforced by a very delicate fresco, hand-painted and depicted in gold leaf on the rear wall of the altar. The architect’s fruitful collaboration with artisans and makers permeates this project, with the focus being the high altar itself, a strong simple form in blood red Venetian plaster, by the ceramicist Julian Stair.

Photographs: John MacLean