Seeking to breathe new life into the declining town and offer a new perspective on its colonial heritage, the Ministry chose a disused church built in 1911 as a basis for this centre accommodating exhibition and club spaces, multipurpose room, projection room, refreshment area and offices. The design introduces small independent volumes for clubs into the restored church’s interior, each attached to just one wall and reached by walkways. A boldly contemporary L-plan extension with undercut corner entrance comprises two superimposed masses: one clad in local marble echoing the colour of the church’s painted walls, the other white with randomly placed openings. Two transparent volumes link the new structure to the church, allowing spatial continuity without diminishing either building’s identity. 

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture