THE ACCC
A new, mixed-use cultural and community hub combining expanded facilities for the ACCC Trust with 40 new homes, rooted within the evolving Acton Gardens masterplan.
DFA has developed the redevelopment of the existing Annoor Cultural & Community Centre on Church Road into an eight-storey mixed-use building. The proposal provides 993 sqm of new community space across the lower levels, with 40 high-quality residential apartments above. The centre brings together prayer halls, teaching and multifunctional spaces, a café, a kitchen, exhibition areas and supporting community facilities within a significantly improved building for the Trust.
The design has evolved through an extensive pre-planning application and community consultation process, balancing the operational requirements of the cultural centre with the residential accommodation above.
DFA refined the massing, regularised the structural and façade grid and reorganised the internal layouts around the orientation of the Qibla, while improving residential efficiency. The tallest element is concentrated towards the centre of the site, with the building stepping down towards more sensitive boundaries and the neighbouring playspace.
Architecturally, the scheme establishes a unified identity between its community and residential uses while incorporating subtle references to Islamic architecture. A palette of warm, earthy brickwork is complemented by a lighter brick detailing, soft green metalwork and patterned privacy screens, balancing daylight, privacy and expression.
At street level, the building pulls back from Church Road to create a landscaped public space, with the café and community entrance activating the frontage and providing a new social focus for the wider neighbourhood.
A series of façade studies explored how the building’s Islamic influences could be expressed with subtlety across the residential elevations. Working within the disciplined structural grid, the options test the scale, position and prominence of the patterned metalwork to create different levels of rhythm, privacy and ornamentation.
Reducing the motif to a finer band at the head of each window, which creates a quieter expression, emphasising the vertical proportions of the openings and allowing the brickwork and regular façade grid to become more prominent.
Together, the studies formed part of the wider refinement of the ACCC design: developing a cohesive architectural language that brings together the community uses below and residential accommodation above while retaining a distinctive identity rooted in subtle references to Islamic architecture.
The façade combines a restrained brick grid with patterned metalwork, introducing a subtle Islamic influence while maintaining a contemporary residential character. At ground level, generous glazing and a sheltered threshold animate the street and create a strong visual connection between the ACCC, its users and the wider public realm. The result is a welcoming and civic frontage, balancing architectural identity, privacy and everyday activity.
The proposal is carefully set within the evolving character of Church Road, responding to the scale and rhythm of surrounding residential development while establishing a clear identity of its own. New planting, widened pedestrian areas and active ground-floor edges strengthen the public realm, creating a greener and more welcoming setting around the building. The landscape approach helps stitch the ACCC into its wider neighbourhood, improving connections between the street, adjacent homes and nearby community spaces.
The programme is organised as a clear vertical stack, bringing together a diverse mix of community, cultural and religious uses at the lower levels with residential accommodation above. Within the ACCC, spaces are carefully zoned to allow prayer, education, social and more active community functions to operate independently while remaining closely connected. This clear organisation helps simplify circulation and servicing, while giving each use its own identity within a coherent overall building.
