TEN years in the making, London's first purpose-built Jewish community and cultural centre has finally opened its doors, and it is unlike any other Jewish building in the city. On an otherwise grim stretch of Finchley Road in north-west London, and accessible via a slender bridge, the elegant new glass-fronted, four-storey centre is designed to appeal to people of all ages, Jew and non-Jew alike. Its opening weekend drew large crowds for classes in krav maga (an Israeli form of self defense) and cooking demonstrations. Afterwards people gathered in the spacious cafe and restaurant and the large sheltered piazza, where the noise of the street was muffled to a subtle hum. The launch of JW3, as the centre is called, comes at a time when many of London's 200,000 Jews have become disengaged from Judaism. Increasing secularisation, dispersal and inter-marriage have played a part, along with a sense that “'if I don't live my life this way then I'm not Jewish,’” explains Raymond Simonson, the centre's enthusiastic chief executive. As a cultural centre—and not a place of worship—JW3 aims to create a sense of community by reflecting the diversity of Jewish life in the city. "I think we're offering Jews a way back in who may have been moving away," he says. "They'll say 'I don't want to go to synagogue, I don't believe in God, I don't fast on Yom Kippur, but hang on, you're doing a Woody Allen festival'."

JW3 is the brainchild of Dame Vivien Duffield, a British arts philanthropist who visited several Jewish community centres in New York a decade ago and wondered why there was nothing similar in Britain. "We are a city not only with a large Jewish population but with a lot of people coming in and out from other countries," says Nick Viner, who has led the project alongside Dame Vivien since 2006, when it was still just an idea. "JW3 offers a great opportunity to showcase artistic talent and to bring people together." Yet many of London's Jews resisted the idea for a centre. "People were sceptical and didn't see the need for it," says Mr Viner, "they couldn't see what it would be and how it would work." But £50m later (80% of which was donated by the Duffield Clore Foundation) the centre has become a reality. "Now that it's built those same people are saying 'Why didn't you build it in my area?'" laughs Mr Simonson. With its cinema, dance studios, concert hall, restaurant (run by Ottolenghi-trained chefs), nursery and large outdoor piazza—and with the Camden Arts Centre just across the road—JW3 aspires to become a new cultural hub. The centre's opening programme is ambitious, with no fewer than 1,400 events over three months, from live performances (comedy, music, theatre) to talks with Nicholas Hytner, Kevin Spacey, Zoe Wanamaker and David Puttnam. Classes in yoga, ballet and bridge run alongside workshops in kosher cooking and psychoanalysis and Judaism. "We are seeking to be a little bit of the Southbank in north-west London, a little bit of the Barbican, but with a Jewish twist," explains Mr Simonson. "When I filter [Kevin] Spacey through a Jewish lens, what I get is a topic like the powers of arts to transform community."