Lapworth Architects has designed and submitted proposals for a new community outreach centre for The Abrahamic Foundation at 215 High Street, Smethwick, serving Harborne and the wider Birmingham community. The Foundation occupies a prominent plot on the edge of the town centre, where neglected land and unstable ground had long created maintenance and safety issues.
The brief is clear and practical: create a place where people can eat, meet and get support. The new centre will include a soup kitchen, a community kitchen and flexible rooms for advice, learning and evening programmes. It will be easy to find, easy to use and welcoming to first-time visitors.
The design, led by Lapworth’s Birmingham team, combines architectural detailing, landscape integration and structural coordination. A stepped gabion retaining wall stabilises the boundary between the mosque and the neighbouring property, developed with B&G Consulting Engineers. The three-tier form, with two-, one-and-a-half-, and one-metre steps, provides both stability and a natural textural finish suited to urban landscapes in Smethwick and nearby Edgbaston and Harborne.
On the street, the building reads as calm and robust, using durable materials suited to daily community use. Inside, a direct arrival leads to a professional kitchen, community dining hall and adaptable spaces that can shift purpose throughout the day. The landscape strategy connects the new retaining structure with soft planting, turning a once-derelict edge into a maintained, welcoming boundary.
Design and planning moved on a consistent digital workflow. We prepare council-ready submissions and track revisions in tools that reduce avoidable queries, including UK Planning Gateway. That helps keep time focused on delivery and quality across Birmingham.
For readers searching for architects in Birmingham or architects in Harborne, this project shows how we combine social purpose with technical delivery. A useful building on a repaired site, set up to serve the community for the long term.
From heritage restoration in Edgbaston to new community projects in Smethwick and Sutton Coldfield, the practice delivers well-resolved, context-sensitive buildings that enhance both function and local character.
