For over three years, our team worked closely with a project group led by Bishop Peter Doyle to develop plans for a new purpose-built Cathedral Centre. The Cathedral is home to a vibrant, committed and active Catholic community however the limitations of the current facilities have prevented the Cathedral from hosting gatherings or offering hospitality to visitors and worshippers.
The new contemporary extension was built alongside the Grade II Listed Coach House, forming a new space alongside the Cathedral Gardens. The existing garages were also transformed into a distinctive entrance to the Centre, conserving the original vernacular appearance.
The new Centre provides a venue for diocesan events such as days of recollection, catechetical programmes, retreats, musicians’ days, lay formation and training courses, educational and celebratory events for young people through the provision of fully equipped meeting spaces of different sizes; flexible multi-space rooms available to parishes and groups with a common interest drawn from across the Diocese.
A new café welcomes visitors and offers affordable refreshments to local people, visiting groups and others using the Centre. Modern, large and well-equipped kitchens allow the function rooms to cater for the full range of events and enables the Cathedral to provide hospitality within the Cathedral grounds following major diocese events. The grounds themselves have been landscaped to create beautiful gardens, including a children’s garden and a gathering place for prayer and reflection, offering an oasis of calm and refuge from the outside world.
