The Wren International Centre of Excellence
Preserving the past, building the future
The Wren International Centre of Excellence will be a leading hub for traditional craft skills, ensuring the continued care of our iconic Cathedral, while training the next generation of heritage craftspeople.
By enhancing workshop facilities, launching an apprenticeship programme, and fostering innovation in conservation, we will secure the future of heritage crafts, and inspire a diverse new workforce to safeguard historic buildings for generations to come.
Securing our future
By training new generations in traditional craft skills, we ensure the long-term care of one of the world’s most iconic cathedrals. Apprentices and trainees will gain unparalleled experience working within St Paul’s, learning from master craftspeople on a globally significant site.
A lasting legacy for the heritage sector
Beyond St Paul’s, the Centre will strengthen the wider heritage industry by creating a diverse and highly skilled workforce, and address the urgent skill shortage currently facing the sector. With a declining number of skilled craftspeople, the Centre will teach, preserve and pass on vital techniques in stonemasonry, carpentry, and more.
Project plans
There are two strands to our project, one being the building of the Wren International Centre of Excellence, a simple yet inspiring space where our craftspeople can carry out their important work; the other being the recruitment of apprentices to preserve the skills of our team, ensuring the conservation of St Paul’s continues into the future.
Award-winning architects, Scott Whitby Studio, are undertaking the building project and have designed a simple yet beautiful plan, which strips back the existing structures to create an inspirational and accessible space.
The design will:
- create practical spaces for teams who take care of the Cathedral
- provide spaces for work, teaching, storage, personal care, rest and breaks
- be accessible to all, allowing everyone to work in and visit the centre
- commit to carrying out the project while having minimal environmental impact
- use the existing skills and resources of our craftspeople and local tradespeople
- help the centre flourish as a globally recognised place of learning, where expertise is nurtured and passed on to the next generation of apprentices
- open up the centre as part of the visitor experience journey, inviting guests from near and far to discover the Undercroft.
In the media
In June 2025, we're launching a new apprenticeship programme for heritage and endangered craft skills.
We were delighted to host a distinctive evening, A Celebration of Heritage Craft Skills, with Lady Petchey on 28th October to celebrate craft skills, and raise funds for the planned heritage craft training hub, the Wren International Centre of Excellence.
Country Life online: For every new stonemason, seven retire
As St Paul’s Cathedral launches the Wren Centre of Excellence to train young people to repair Britain’s historic buildings, Lotte Brundle, Country Life online, talks to restoration workers about why their industry is on a cliff edge.