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Summary

Description

George R M Kennedy for Alison and Hutchison and Partners, Designed 1968, completed 1970. Later alterations circa 1993 and refurbishment scheme 2010. Single-storey, circular keyhole-plan Catholic Church in Brutalist style with tangential expanding fin windowed sections and an angled roof rising to a prominent singular point to the south. The church is dramatically set on a steeply raised site to the centre of a mid-20th century New Town housing scheme and is a prominent feature in the surrounding area. Secondary sections wrap around the principal circular plan to the west and north sides ending in large tangential glazed window sections with deep-set concrete mullions and cill band under heavy sweeping shuttered lintels facing east. Narrower slit windows to the west side facing south. Tall finned concrete slabs forming entrance wall screen to the north (later part alteration to form arch) Plain timber doors to west entrance.

The interior was seen 2013. The main congregation space is in the Scandinavian style with terrazzo floor, raised curved altar plinth, curved white walls with doors to confessionals and radially boarded timber ceiling. There are no windows to the main space which is top-lit by a strip rooflight around the edge of the space. Bespoke long concrete and Oregon pine pews with pivoted kneelers. Steps to rear leading to formerly open space, now converted to corridor with glazed screen and cafeteria area beyond (2013). Former sunken baptistery (now infilled) with large glazed window to east end of corridor. Original plain Stations of the Cross removed to the 'Shalom Chapel' which was created out of a former sacristy. Original timber cupboards to main sacristy. Contemporary carved timber crucifix by sculptor Harry Bain. Timber carved Stations of the Cross salvaged from Ayr Cathedral date to 1959.

Statement of Special Interest

Place of worship in use as such. St Andrew's Roman Catholic Church is a rare and fine example of a Post-war church in Scandinavian style for a newly established community. The church has undergone some alterations but retains its original character and is significant for its architectural design and circular plan. St Andrew's was built in 1968 and opened in 1970 as the first Catholic Church in the rapidly emerging New Town of Livingston which was founded in 1962. The parish of St Andrew's itself was established in 1966. St Andrew's Church is an important example of Post-war ecclesiastical architecture retaining its original character and form as a striking, unusual modernist circular design which is prominently situated on a raised site to the heart of a residential area. The Brutalist style shuttered concrete walls and sharp contrasting glazed fin window sections are distinctive features of this building which despite the extensive use of concrete also displays a light and delicate sculptural quality. Hume suggests that St Andrew's is the most dynamic exterior of any post war church in Scotland, and of particular interest is its rare use of a circular plan. The church cost £88,000 to complete.

St Andrews church was erected as a result of the new building drive from the Catholic Church from the 1950s onwards to create new parishes. The diocese was forward thinking in commissioning unusual modern designs and innovative congregational spaces which was a result of the implementation of liturgical reform and the renewed theology of Vatican II from this period. The changes encouraged the reorganization of the space towards an open plan form of communal worship.

A Gillick, research assistant for the 'Roman Catholic Church Architecture in Britain, 1955-1975' Project notes that the building 'is not traditional in an aesthetic sense, but it does work well, generating a real sense of intimacy and of communal worship'. The site is very prominent and the tall curved fin rising to the south of the site where the ground falls away steeply is reminiscent of the more traditional spires of classically designed churches. Gillick makes a comparison to Le Corbusier's later work, and in particular, Notre-Dame du Haut, Ronchamp.

As Glendinning notes in Rebuilding Scotland (p131) 'the movement to single interior spaces for modern church architecture allowed the architect to focus on and use the finishes of floors, ceilings and walls as important part of the overall design.' This ethos is demonstrated well at St Andrews with the inspired use of linear timber sections to the ceiling creating a visual pattern which focuses the congregation's eyes towards the altar whilst pulling them together within the circle. The way the ceiling height rises towards the altar also acts as a focus for the congregation to the heart of the church. The design quality and style of the interior is striking including the well designed pews. The crucifix is sculpted in wood by Harry Bain who also created the carved figure of St Paul and the Stations of the Cross at St Paul's Roman Catholic Church, Glenrothes for Gillespie Kidd and Coia Architects 1956-7 (see separate listing).

Other important examples of a circular themed Post-war churches are the Brucefield Parish Church, Whitburn 1966 and St Gabriel's Roman Catholic Church, Prestonpans which is also by the firm Alison and Hutchison and Partners (see separate listings).

References

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