Hindu Temple, East Ham

Project: Hindu Temple

 

Size: 1,500 m²

 

Location: London, Newham

 

Client: Lakshmi Naranaya Trust

 

Construction Cost: £4.6 m

 

A new-build Hindu temple on a compact High Street location formerly occupied by a public house. The design blends an efficient modern interior with an ornately modelled exterior detailed by specialist Hindu temple designers in accordance with the views and customs of this particular branch of Hinduism prevalent in Southern India.

 

The Gopouram’s (towers) are deliberately intended to be visible from a long distance away and are an important element of the building, permitting religious interaction with the temple and daily reinforcement of the faith when devotees are passing in the street. Articulations to each elevation, using symmetry and ornate features, enliven the street and invite the local community in.

 

The building techniques used by the specialist craftsmen comprise of rendered corbelled brickwork with elaborate finer carvings produced in situ.

 

Completion was achieved in 2017.