"One of the noblest Early English west fronts in England"  Nikolaus Pevsner

Through 2022, CWa have assisted The Dean and Chapter of Ripon Cathedral with proposals for the Ripon Cathedral Renewed project. In direct response to the Cathedral's burgeoning needs, a new Welcome Facility and Song School are proposed to support this major centre of worship. Set upon the eastern edge of the exquisite Yorkshire Dales (and counting Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal as immediate neighbours), Ripon Cathedral's new building is envisaged as an extension- albeit one that does not touch- supporting the day to day life, operation, and mission of the church.

A new refectory, and arrival facilities provide hospitality and welcome to pilgrims, guests and visitors alike. New toilets dramatically improve upon a barely existing offer- with vastly increased numbers, and accessible facilities, including a new 'Changing Place' for the city.  A comprehensive new song school facility builds upon the Cathedral's nationwide reputation for choral song, whilst drawing children from across the diocese closer to their Cathedral. Community rooms and meeting facilities provide a base for those who wish to spend more time at the Cathedral or conduct community business within its extraordinary setting. Finally, new stores away from the church floor relieve pressure on the Cathedral interior, giving greater scope for events and performances, whilst safeguarding and revealing more of its historic fabric, than ever before.  

The architecture of the proposal seeks to engage with the character of the Cathedral and its wider site in several ways. Its masonry envelope will look to source stone local to Ripon, with decoratively dressed principal openings speaking of the Cathedral- and traditional ecclesiastical construction- in a contemporary new manner. Loadbearing stone construction will help minimise further use of concrete, whilst remaining special enough, and appropriate enough, to a new 'long life, loose fit' building. The mass timber internal structure will feature heavily within new interiors- expressing its making as clearly as its forebears, whilst enabling a high degree of carbon capture within the fabric of the building itself. New rooms and spaces will draw directly from the memory of those that already define this richest of sites. 

Submitted for planning in December 2022, Ripon Cathedral Renewed seeks to help meet the Church of England's net zero targets for 2030. It further unlocks the cathedral church for future generations- enabling it to better perform its historic role as Ripon’s sacred and civic heart, for years to come.

Cover image – ‘West View of Ripon Minster’ by W.H.Wood c.1790