The Martin Room: St Marys, Pakenham

Around the year 2000 we undertook a re-ordering scheme, removing pews from the transepts and creating a community room with mezzanine above in the south transept. Now called the Martin room, as it was funded by the Martin trust. The aspiration of the church was to create an acoustically separate and comfortable space on the mezzanine and complete some joinery works in the ground floor space, which were previously left incomplete. The mezzanine had suffered from drafts from the tower and south window and a lack of permanent heating resulting in the space being under used. The solution was to from a fully glazed screen across the mezzanine with opening sliding glass doors so that it can still be used for overflow seating in large special services, but generally will be separated from the rest of the church. Secondary glazing was fitted over the east and west side windows, all constructed with oak frames, and made to match the profile of the original stone windows. A cabinet unit was created to fit along the stair balustrade, guarding the edge of the stair and forming a draft barrier from the large south window. This cabinet has fold down desk units so this can be used as a parish office. New suspended radiant heaters were chosen to heat the space as they will efficiently and discretely, and they are flexible to suit an irregular use pattern of the room. At ground floor level an oak screen was constructed to conceal the tea point, which had been constructed in the earlier phase of works, and also to enclose the staircase, separating the ground and first floor spaces. Other additional storage cabinets were also created to help avoid the accumulation of clutter in these spaces.