Four Peaks: A New Pavilion for Paddington Old Cemetery

At today's One Kilburn open meeting, Design Director Imran Jahn presented RISE Design Studio's early concept for a new community pavilion behind the Grade II listed chapels at Paddington Old Cemetery. The project is pro bono. It started with an enquiry from a local resident in January, and it is shaped by the chapels' own 1855 architecture.

Concept rendering of Four Peaks pavilion between two stone chapels, with a folded slate roof and outdoor café seating.

A careful first enquiry

In January, local resident Tessa Morrison got in touch with a short note. She described an exciting new-build community pavilion in the Queen's Park area, at a very early stage. Given the sensitivities involved, she preferred to talk in person. Within days we were standing with her at the chapels.

It was the start of a real collaboration. Tessa followed up with historic drawings, the 2021 listed building consent documents and a set of references that captured her ambitions:

• Peter Zumthor's 2011 Serpentine Pavilion: a dark, quiet exterior leading to a light and surprising interior.
• Oscar Niemeyer's 2003 Serpentine Pavilion: a single sculptural gesture.
• Tadao Ando's Church of Light: how a small space can feel sacred.
• Timber scissor-truss chapels and pavilions: how an expressive roof structure can turn a simple room into something cathedral-like.

Those references stayed with us throughout the design.

Tessa has led this project entirely pro bono for more than two years. She has spoken to dozens of local businesses, groups and residents about what the chapels could become.

Concept rendering of Four Peaks pavilion between two stone chapels, with a folded slate roof and outdoor café seating.

The chapels: a Victorian landmark

The chapels were designed by Thomas Little and completed in 1855. Little also designed the chapel at Nunhead Cemetery. Paddington was one of London's first public cemeteries after the Metropolitan Interment Act of 1850.

• The layout: Little arranged the cemetery around a geometric horseshoe of tree-lined paths, with the chapels at its centre.
• The buildings: twin Gothic chapels in Kentish ragstone, linked by two arched porte-cochères and a central belfry. The West chapel was for Anglicans and the East chapel for Nonconformists.
• Protection: the chapels have been Grade II listed since 1982, and the cemetery landscape is itself on Historic England's register. Brent Council has owned the site since 1986.

Today the chapels sit empty and in poor condition. Behind them is a later, unlisted block of toilets and stores that can no longer serve a modern community building.

Concept rendering of Four Peaks pavilion between two stone chapels, with a folded slate roof and outdoor café seating.

Starting in the archive

A building this significant deserves to be understood before anything new is drawn beside it. In February, we joined Tessa at the RIBA Drawings and Archives Collection at the V&A to study the original drawings of the chapels.

We then built an accurate 3D digital model of the chapels. This let us test every idea against the real proportions, rooflines and sightlines of Little's buildings. We have since shared the model with the university students who are taking the next stage forward.

Concept rendering of Four Peaks pavilion between two stone chapels, with a folded slate roof and outdoor café seating.

QPK at the Chapels

Tessa's consultation produced a clear community vision, QPK at the Chapels (Queen's Park and Kilburn). It is built around three complementary spaces:

• The East chapel: a U3A learning centre offering affordable classes and interest groups for adults.
• The West chapel: kept as a memorial chapel for funerals and remembrance, also available for respectful hire for concerts, rehearsals and events.
• A new pavilion: a community kitchen and gathering space that replaces the unusable rear block with modern, wheelchair-accessible facilities.

The kitchen is at the heart of the vision. It could help tackle food insecurity and isolation, support refugee and migrant groups, teach cooking and budgeting skills, and give local chefs a place to build a following. A Long Gallery would show and sell work by local artists.

Concept rendering of Four Peaks pavilion between two stone chapels, with a folded slate roof and outdoor café seating.

The design: four peaks

We tested eight options in our Stage 1 report, from pavilions attached to the chapels to fully detached "island" buildings. Each was judged on form, scale, materiality, approach, views and connection. Option 8 emerged as the preferred direction.

• Taken from the chapels themselves. The chapels' frontage is defined by four pitched gables: the two chapel ends and the two porte-cochères. We lifted those four peaks directly from the elevation and set them around a square plan, rotated to face the approach.
• Centred and respectful. The pavilion sits on the chapels' central axis, behind the belfry. A slim glazed corridor gallery links it back to the historic building, and each chapel keeps clear space on either side.
• Revealed, not announced. From the main drive off Willesden Lane, the pavilion is largely screened by the chapels. It appears as you pass through the porte-cochère arches, framed by 19th-century stonework.
• A cathedral of timber. Inside, an exposed timber lattice rises into the four peaks above a calm stone and concrete interior. Full-height glazing opens onto the cemetery landscape, with a slate roof to match the chapels.
• Compact and practical. The pavilion is around 10 m by 10 m (about 95 m²), with a café servery and a flexible room for dining, workshops, exhibitions and events. New WCs and changing space sit in the renovated rear link, with herb gardens and outdoor seating on a new paved court.

Concept rendering of Four Peaks pavilion between two stone chapels, with a folded slate roof and outdoor café seating.

Sharing it with Kilburn

We presented the concept at the One Kilburn open meeting at the OK Club. The morning also covered the South Kilburn Community Fund, One Kilburn's growing WhatsApp community and plans for new governance.

The questions from the room were thoughtful:

• Heritage: the chapels and landscape were designed to be seen from every angle, so the bar is rightly very high. Historic England is likely to be a key funder and will scrutinise the detail.
• Public and private space: how open the pavilion feels will shape how well it works.
• Access: the site is well served by public transport, but elderly and disabled visitors to family graves still need to be able to reach it.

We welcome all of this. As Tessa said on the day, this is a starting point for the community to shape, not a finished product.

What happens next

• Middlesex University: around 70 students from Year 2, Year 3 and the MA programme, led by Francesca Morialdo, begin work on the site this week. They will develop their own ideas with residents, using our 3D model as a base.
• Brent Council: One Kilburn will ask Brent for an update on its plans for the chapels.
• Funding: the aim is to bring together Brent, heritage funders and private philanthropy. The pavilion also offers a naming opportunity for a charitable trust or donor.

Get involved

If you have ideas for the chapels or the pavilion, we would love to hear them. Please do get in touch at architects@risedesignstudio.co.uk and we will pass your thoughts on to Tessa.

RISE Design Studio also designed the second screen at the Lexi Cinema in Kensal Rise, another community-led project we are proud to be part of.

→ Email us at architects@risedesignstudio.co.uk
→ Or call the studio on 020 3947 5886

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