Guildbourne Centre in Worthing: Before and after photos of the top floor’s complete makeover

The last shop to be located in Worthing’s indoor shopping facility closed around 27 years ago, and the whole floor was boarded up and fell into a state of disrepair.

With several of the downstairs also empty on and off over the years, its fate looked set to continue. But then, the centre started to fill up and an upstairs tenant was found in the shape of Redeemer church.

After a £1million refurbishment, that took almost a year, Rooms opened in August last year. It now boasts co-working stations for dozens of employees, meeting rooms for hire, space for parties and community groups to be held and a flexible auditorium that seats up to 250 people.

The space is now sleek and modern, and features an original mosaic from when the centre originally opened in late 1974, which can be seen in our video (above).

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Director Rachel Tostevin said it was important for Redeemer to make a difference. She said: “We have a nice community here at the Guildbourne Centre, and it’s lovely to see the impact we have had up here making a difference to what’s happening downstairs.

“We want to be a catalyst for change, and we want the centre to flourish in a way it hasn’t since the 1970s.”

The church had previously been based at Worthing High School, but had been looking for a base to call its own for 15 years.

Lead Elder at Redeemer, Joel Tostevin, said: “With the things we are doing we want to serve the town by running a great business here. We want to be a blessing to the Guildbourne Centre and we want to see it do well.”

Before the renovation, staff at Redeemer took photos of the space as it was, which you can see below, as well as images of how it looks now, post-renovation.