Architects announced for Canterbury Cathedral’s new visitor centre

The new centre will form a significant part of The Canterbury Journey project, which was earmarked for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant last year.

BGS will work closely with the Cathedral’s Dean and Chapter to design a more open and welcoming visitor centre that engages with the city and visitors, offering information and providing a more hospitable Benedictine Welcome for the hundreds of thousands of modern pilgrims visiting the Cathedral annually.

The interview panel said they were impressed by BGS’ distinctive approach and response to the brief. The architects demonstrated a logical process intended to question and challenge the panel’s expectations and to further develop the right brief to deliver this complex project in the sensitive Canterbury Cathedral precincts on a UNESCO world heritage site.

“The Grade I listed cathedral attracts more than a million worshippers and visitors each year and the proposals for the conservation of the site will ensure a much more resilient future and act as a catalyst for wider community involvement,” a spokesperson said.

“A new Welcome Centre will transform how the Cathedral engages with people of all faiths and none and will tell the story of a religious site which has stood the test of time over an extraordinary millennium’s worth of history.”