Church of St Richard, Ham

Church of St Richard, Ham

Church built between 1964 and 1966 to designs by architect Ralph Covell.

The building employs a striking modernist design with a laminated timber roof-frame supported on six hexagonal reinforced concrete pillars. The walls are constructed in brown brick laid in stretcher bond with timber-framed windows. The roof comprises three hyperbolic paraboloid shells made of three layers of laminated and tongued-and-groove-edged European whitewood boarding, interspersed with pyramidal roofs of two-ply plywood panels. These are covered with copper sheeting, though the copper cladding on the hypar shells has been replaced and lacks the original vertical seams. The spire is of fibreglass.

The church is planned as a Star of David with a hexagonal central seating space ringed by six triangular wings divided from the main space by screens. Originally these wings contained the Baptistry (now the Children's area), entrance, Lady Chapel, Vestry (now the Choir Room), Sacristy (now the Vestry), and Clergy Vestry (now the kitchen). A shared entrance lobby connects to the adjoining primary school to the west, with external entrances to the north and south and triangular-plan WCs to the north-west and south-west. A later timber-boarded outshut with a sloping felted roof has been added to the north elevation of the kitchen space.

Externally, the distinctive copper roof has three hypar shells that sweep down from the central point beneath the fibreglass spire, then rise to apexes at three of the six wings. Between these are three sections of sloping pitched roofing ending in triangular gables with mixed yellow and clear glazed timber-framed panels. The fenestration varies by wing type. Those beneath hypar roofs have triangular sections of glazed timber-framed panels with mixed yellow and clear glass on each external side, beneath broad sloping replacement uPVC fascias. Wings with pyramidal roofs have narrow strips of timber-framed glazed panels (some with uPVC replacements) beneath horizontal replacement uPVC fascias. The brick walling of the wings is largely blank except for narrow full-height dalle de verre glazed panels at wing intersections and at the points of the Children's Corner and Lady Chapel wings. Modern uPVC windows and doors have been added to the kitchen and Choir Room. The Sacristy has a corner bell cote with painted timber balustrade. The entrance lobby has wide external openings closed with full-height slatted timber gates.

Inside, the undulating tent-like roof of softwood boarding is supported by six white-painted laminated timber beams with metal facing strips. The original central light fitting has 16 pendant lamps. Triangular wings are separated from the main space by screens: those to the Choir Room and Kitchen are of narrow softwood boarding rising to softwood fascias below the gable glazing. The Lady Chapel screen is glazed with timber frame rising to flanking concrete pillar height. The curved Vestry screen is free-standing softwood boarding with pairs of doors decorated with vitreous enamel designs on steel plates by Henry Haig. The Children's area screen retains the original timber lintel but includes a folding timber-framed glazed screen installed in 2003, with a two-part mural by Cynthia Etherington also from 2003 and fitted cupboards.

The Sanctuary has a shallow timber dais with square-section metal railings and white artificial leather covering. The moveable table altar, lectern with attached metal-framed chair, hexagonal wooden font, and carved candleholders were all designed by Covell to allow relocation within the worship space. The Lady Chapel has a fixed table altar on a corner dais. The organ by Bevington and Sons dates from around 1900 and was rebuilt in St Richard's in 1965.

At the corners and intersections of the triangular wings are 15 narrow dalle de verre windows by Henry Haig. These are made of inch-thick coloured glass set in epoxy resin, rise to the top of the walling, and feature abstract designs inspired by the life and character of St Richard of Chichester.