The Kingsway International Christian Centre in Hackney, east London, which is already Britains biggest church attracting 4,000 worshippers every Sunday wants to construct a 10,000 seat arena for its evangelical services.
The £22m plans for the 3.8ha (9.5 acre) site which the church has bought for £3m , include an exhibition hall, a six-storey office block and a 130-bed hotel. Sheppard Robson, a firm of London architects, has designed the complex, which will also act as a community centre, and will include a gym, nursery, shops, restaurants and television facilities.
A spokesman for Hackney council however said it was keener to encourage the development of businesses, factories and services rather than shops and churches in that part of the borough. A final decision will be made in October.
Sunday Telegraph 29/07/01 page 17
