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by Sean Hill on Mar 11, 2026
Every year, RISE Design Studio commits a set number of hours to charitable and community projects - work we believe in, offered pro bono. Right now, that commitment is focused on one of London's most compelling heritage and community stories: the restoration of the Victorian Gothic chapels at Paddington Old Cemetery - on the border of Queen's Park and Kilburn in the London Borough of Brent.
Early concept visualisation of the new multi-purpose pavilion by RISE Design Studio, set within the historic courtyard of Paddington Old Cemetery. The glazed pavilion - combining a community café, kitchen and gallery - sits in quiet dialogue with Thomas Little's Grade II listed Victorian Gothic chapels behind.
QPK stands for Queen's Park and Kilburn - two neighbouring wards in Brent that sit side by side but often exist in quite separate worlds. The QPK at the Chapels initiative is a community-led vision to restore and reimagine the Grade II listed Victorian Gothic chapels at the heart of Paddington Old Cemetery, creating a new educational, cultural, social and memorial centre for the area.
Project at a Glance
- Project name: QPK at the Chapels
- Location: Paddington Old Cemetery, Brent, London
- Building: Grade II Listed Victorian Gothic Chapels, designed by Thomas Little c.1855
- Status: Heritage at Risk Register - Lottery Heritage Funding sought
- RISE role: Pro Bono Architect - Feasibility and Concept Design
- Community lead: QPK Association (Queen's Park and Kilburn)
A Heritage Building on the Brink - and a Community Ready to Act
Designed around 170 years ago by architect Thomas Little, the chapels at Paddington Old Cemetery are a quiet piece of London's architectural heritage. Tucked behind Salusbury, Lonsdale and Tennyson Roads, these Victorian Gothic structures - with their lancet windows, stone bellcote and arched cloisters - are precisely the kind of building that should be alive with purpose, not slowly disappearing behind a fence.
Currently on the Heritage at Risk Register and in a state of dilapidation, the chapels are owned by Brent Council, who are now actively seeking Lottery Heritage Funding to begin restoration. The funding process runs in two phases: a first tranche to allow the spaces to be used as temporary community shells, followed by a full application to fund a permanent, fully fitted-out community hub.
It is into this second, longer-term vision that QPK at the Chapels - and RISE Design Studio - steps in.
The Vision: Three Spaces, One Community
The proposal centres on three complementary spaces, each with a distinct purpose, together serving the whole neighbourhood.
U3A Learning Centre - East Chapel A flexible, purpose-equipped space hosting classes and interest groups open to all adults over 16. Led by volunteer enthusiasts and operating on U3A's proven annual subscription model, the programme could span language classes, art history, English literacy support, welfare advice, dance, craftwork and more. Reduced fees and a Buy One, Gift One membership model ensure genuine accessibility for all.
Memorial and Events Chapel - Anglican Chapel Retained as a working memorial chapel for funerals and remembrance, this space will also be available for respectful hire - theatre rehearsals, concerts, festivals, heritage filming, cultural celebrations and workshops. Hire fees operate on a sliding scale to ensure inclusivity for community groups alongside commercial hirers.
New Multi-Purpose Pavilion - Rear of Site This is where RISE Design Studio's architectural contribution begins to take shape. We have developed early concept proposals for a brand new pavilion to replace non-listed outbuildings at the rear of the chapels. Combining a community kitchen, a restaurant and café, and an art gallery with indoor and outdoor seating, this pavilion is conceived as a genuine civic amenity - serving refugee and migrant groups, low-income families, isolated individuals, and emerging local chefs in equal measure. The gallery will rotate curated shows of local art and craft, giving artists a route to income as well as exposure.
Why RISE Design Studio Is Involved - and What We Are Contributing
When the QPK team approached us, the fit was immediate. RISE Design Studio was founded on a commitment to design that is sustainable, contextually rooted, and deeply considered. Working on a Grade II listed heritage building, within a community-led regeneration framework, in one of London's most culturally layered boroughs - this is architecture that means something.
Our involvement forms part of our annual commitment to offer a set number of practice hours to charitable and community causes. We believe that access to good architectural thinking should not be reserved for well-funded clients - community groups, charities, and not-for-profit initiatives deserve the same quality of spatial thinking, and that is what we bring to QPK.
Our contribution is pro bono through to RIBA Stage 2 Concept Design, and potentially into Stage 3 Design Development, giving the project the architectural credibility it needs to secure funding and community support. Should the project progress to the later technical and construction stages, we would look to agree a fee for those services - an honest and sustainable model that allows us to give something real at the moment it is needed most, while ensuring we can continue to take on work like this year after year.
Our early concept work has focused on the new multi-purpose pavilion. Sitting behind the listed chapels, this is a rare opportunity to introduce a piece of contemporary architecture in sensitive dialogue with the Victorian originals - respecting the heritage setting while creating a genuinely new and useful civic space. We are approaching it with the same rigour we bring to all our work: fabric-first thinking, environmental performance, and a material palette that honours its surroundings.
Our Approach to Pro Bono and Community Architecture
RISE Design Studio is a RIBA Chartered Practice with studios in Fitzrovia and Queen's Park, London, and is establishing a studio in Barcelona. We work across residential, education, commercial and civic architecture - with a strong specialism in Passivhaus design, sustainable building and low-energy retrofit. Alongside our client work, we maintain a standing commitment to the wider role of architecture in society - ring-fencing a number of practice hours each year for pro bono projects offered free of charge to organisations doing important things with limited resources.
The commitment is genuine, the hours are real, and the quality of thinking is identical to everything else we produce. For QPK at the Chapels, we are bringing our full design capability to bear - from heritage sensitivity and site analysis through to spatial planning and concept design for the new pavilion.
If you are a community organisation, charity, or not-for-profit with an architectural need and limited resources, we would encourage you to get in touch. We consider each enquiry carefully, and we are particularly drawn to projects at the intersection of heritage, sustainability, and community benefit.
What Happens Next
Brent Council is hosting Open Days at the chapels in March and April, inviting formal Expressions of Interest for temporary community hire of the spaces as shells, with the aim of having tenants in place by late 2027 or 2028. Applicants can also propose strategic partnerships with Brent - staking their claim to permanent tenure of the fully renovated spaces.
QPK at the Chapels is assembling a formal association of supporters and community partners to submit a compelling Expression of Interest, with a dedicated website currently under construction. RISE Design Studio's early concept work for the new pavilion will form a key part of that submission - demonstrating not just the ambition of the vision, but its spatial and architectural credibility.
This is a project that deserves to succeed. London has too many heritage buildings sitting unused while their communities go unserved. QPK at the Chapels offers a way to address both at once - and we are proud to be part of making it happen.
Building for Community
At RISE, we believe that architecture has a responsibility that extends beyond the brief. That the best buildings do not just serve their occupants - they serve their streets, their neighbourhoods, their cities. That heritage is not a constraint but an invitation. And that giving time to projects like QPK at the Chapels is not a distraction from our work - it is an expression of what our work is for.
Curious about working with RISE on a community, heritage or charitable project? Let's talk.
→ Email us at architects@risedesignstudio.co.uk
→ Or call the studio on 020 3947 5886
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