A former chapel reimagined
Case Study
MINISTRY OF WORKS
A former chapel reimagined as a calm, design-led work club for ambitious founders
Ministry of Work began with a simple frustration.
Why does good workspace design only exist in city centres?
After selling his business in 2020, Eddie was no longer interested in long commutes or noisy, anonymous offices. With two young children and a different relationship to time, he wanted something closer to home without lowering the bar.
If people were going to travel to work outside the city, the space had to earn that choice.
It had to feel special.
Intentional.
Worth it.
The Challenge
From co-working to work club
Ministry of Work launched in January 2024 as a co-working space: private offices, shared desks, a podcast studio. But something unexpected happened.
Because of its suburban location, the space began attracting a different kind of member — not early-stage startups, but established founders and business leaders, often with teams, families, and real weight on their shoulders.
People further along in their journey.
People who didn’t need hype — but did need support.
Within a year, it became clear this wasn’t just co-working.
It was becoming a work club.
A place to think freely.
To have honest conversations you can’t have in your own office.
To sit among people who get it.
A building that sets the tone
The building was a disused chapel. Worn, stripped back, but unmistakably special.
Eddie knew early on:
If this was going to work, it had to be in a building with soul.
The brief wasn’t to turn it into a church-inspired interior.
Nor to erase its past.
The challenge was subtler:
how to honour the heritage without feeling like you’re working in a church.
What emerged is a balance of old and new. Stained glass windows, high ceilings and detailed architecture held alongside warmth, calm and contemporary detail.
You feel the history, but you feel completely at ease with all the mod cons you’d expect.
From expansion to intention
Before we got involved, early plans included a large extension at the back of the building. The obvious move on paper.
But when we stepped back and ran the numbers, the reality was stark:
hundreds of thousands spent for only a handful of extra offices, much of it swallowed by the extra services that would be needed.
So we changed course.
Instead of building more, we focused on building better. Investing internally in flow, flexibility, and long-term value.
That decision shaped everything that followed.
Designing for real working lives
Work doesn’t happen at a desk all day.
Some members work from sofas beneath the stained glass.
Some need quiet corners.
Some need to talk loudly and know it won’t spill everywhere.
The kitchen was designed as the heart of the building, deliberately shared by everyone. No upstairs tea point. No separation.
Because community happens where paths cross.
This is where conversations begin:
about business,
about growth,
about things you can’t say when your staff are listening.
A journey, not a floor plan
This building could have become a rabbit warren of rooms.
Or a vast, echoing hall.
Instead, we designed it as a journey.
You arrive into a grounded, welcoming space. One that gives you visual signposts so that you instantly recognise where you are and help you to feel relaxed.
Then upstairs the full volume of the chapel reveals itself: desks beneath stained glass, light highlighting textures and features, calm settling in.
People comment on it instinctively.
This feels peaceful.
“It feels like a work spa.” (An actual quote!)
The design doesn’t rush you.
It lets you arrive.
Detail as care
This project lives in the details.
The level you expect in a boutique hotel, not a workspace.
From restored original light fittings to the way materials meet, to small moments that quietly explain why things are the way they are: sustainability choices, reuse, thoughtfulness.
None of it shouts.
But people feel it.
And they stay longer because of it.
Sustainability without compromise
Heritage buildings don’t make sustainability easy.
Keeping the original stained glass was non-negotiable. Even when replacing it would have improved thermal performance on paper.
Instead, we worked harder elsewhere:
deep insulation,
48 solar panels,
careful coordination across every trade.
The result is an A-rated EPC on a building originally built in 1891.
A quiet statement that beauty, history and performance can coexist.
Still serving the community
After completion, Eddie invited the former congregation back to see the space.
He was nervous but we’d worked so hard to keep the soul of the building.
They were moved, and said:
the building is still serving the community.
Just differently.
What changed
Private offices filled quickly.
The co-working space found its rhythm.
Members come not just to work, but to think.
The building supported the next evolution into a more intentional, values-led work club, without needing to be redesigned.
That flexibility was the point.
Ministry of Work is now known not just as a place to work, but as a place to lead from.
Reflection
This project reinforced something fundamental:
Spaces shape behaviour.
And behaviour shapes culture.
When you design for calm, people think more clearly.
When you design for honesty, real conversations happen.
Seeing this building full and quietly alive with work, conversation and presence, is the kind of outcome that reminds you why detailed design matters.
Who this is for
This project speaks to founders and organisations who want more than just a room full of desks.
Owners who value depth, quality and experience.
It’s for businesses who understand that the environment you build can make people feel. That feeling makes it memorable. They’ll tell everyone they know and keep coming back.
That’s the work Studio Flux exists to do.