INDIANAPOLIS--Should we remodel our historic church building or would it be cheaper to construct something new? What is less expensive: drywall or moveable walls? Are gyms still a trend? What is a general ratio for worship size to education size?
Ministers, church leaders and lay members of growing churches of various denominations across the Midwest brought their church building questions to a small seminar held by the National Association of Church Design Builders last month in Indianapolis.
"This represents a clearinghouse of information for churches on a national level," said Greg Barron, president of the association and president of the G.L. Barron Design-Build Construction Company of Fort Worth. The NACDB will host more than 20 such seminars around the country this year to educate churches before they build.
"The sad thing is we see so much waste," Barron said. He said he knows too many churches who have plans for new facilities stashed beneath the baptistery, unused because of financial problems with the building program. Churches blame the change orders that brought them in way over budget. They blame the architect who designed something they couldn’t afford. The architect blames the builder and the builder blames the architect.
Providing answers
Barron penned the questions from the group on a board. It is for that kind of interaction that the NACDB keeps its seminars to 20 or 30. The half-day seminars provide church leaders with answers to their individual questions as well as expert advice on a variety of church-building topics from people in the construction industry. Seminar speakers are all members of the invitation-only NACDB.
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-- Kurt Williams, |
Information is power. If people have information they can make the right decision, and that's going to vary from church to church.
Kurt Williams has been working with churches in the building process for the past 15 years. He is in project development with T&W General Contractors, an Indiana-based company that sponsored the NACDB training seminar there.
"Information is power," Williams said. "If people have information they can make the right decision, and that’s going to vary from church to church."
Joe Koehling, of Mark Barclay Ministries in Hamilton, Ohio, attended the Indianapolis seminar in anticipation of a future church building project. His church currently meets in a storefront. Koehling said he learned a lot.
"This has been helpful," he said.
Other church leaders said they found the seminar "enlightening" and informative. Many said the explanation of the building process was particularly helpful.
Barron underscored a team approach between church, architect and builder.
"It really comes back to relationship," said Dale Reiser of Professional Building Services, a NACDB member, headquartered in the Chicago area. "The best possible package is built through a relationship."
Barron also advocated architects and builders with church experience.
"You’ve got to have an architect who understands trends, education space, ratios of parking and how they’ve increased, worship spaces, … it’s essential. If they don’t have relevant church experience you need to move on," he said.
Multi-use
Churches continue to consider multiple uses for their facilities and design them for versatility. Entry spaces in particular are now being used for multiple functions. A large, open area is the current trend for church entrances. The foyer, atrium or narthex serves to ease traffic flow before and after worship services, but it can also be a place for fellowship, both informal and formal.
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Greg Barron is president of the NACDB. |
Some entrance areas also have information centers for guests. The trend there is to make the center moveable, a kiosk on wheels, or a changeable display wall, to maximize the possibilities for using the space.
Many churches are also including retail areas, such as bookstores and cafes, in or adjacent to their entry areas.
Kid zones
Kids are the fastest growing segment of the church population, according to the NACDB, and current church designs reflect new trends in children’s ministry. Williams showed examples of children’s areas in churches that were designed as play areas or clubs.
Also, controversies over child abuse in churches have brought about new design considerations for children’s areas. "You see a lot of glass," Williams said. "We want to protect the kids and the people who give their time to serve."
Williams also said churches are designing educational space to be changeable. "I can’t overemphasize the flexibility of the space," Williams said. "It is expensive, but important. It doesn’t have to be just for the kids."
Youth worship space, however, is now being designed specifically for young people. Williams said the days when the teens held worship in a corner of a church gym have given way to much more sophisticated worship areas. Williams said churches see youth as an investment in their future. "They want to be involved," Williams said of young people. "Give them their own spaces."
More or less
Overall church program space averages 52 square feet per person based on worship attendance figures. The NACDB recommends 60 square feet per person.
Churches today are increasing seating space in the worship area and enlarging the platform to accommodate different styles of teaching and worship.
Builders are seeing fewer balconies. The NACDB recommends churches seriously reconsider plans for any multi-level facility for safety reasons and because heating and cooling costs increase per cubit foot of air. "Fire safety and handicap-access laws mean it’s no longer cheaper to go up," according to an association statement.
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Kurt Williams is a project developer at T&W. |
Churches are designing spaces with more parking and more restrooms. Building codes typically require one sanitary fixture per 150 people of each sex. "I’d double that in a heartbeat," Barron said. "And in the ladies area I’d double it again." He also recommended 20 percent more parking than building code ratios require, to create smoother transitions between services and to better accommodate visitors and handicapped members.
While churches may still opt for a fellowship hall, gym or multi-purpose room, usually the emphasis is on space for fellowship rather than for food preparation. A majority of churches today are designing smaller kitchens, preferring to cater meals and to avoid the high cost of commercial kitchens that must be built to code.
Churches are adding more storage space as well, sometimes in outbuildings to avoid building to fire codes and incurring big costs.
They are also dedicating a large portion of the building budget to audio, visual and lighting development for the worship area. "Don’t have A/V as an after thought, when the expectations increase afterwards," Barron said. "Get your acoustic engineer in on the process from day one."
Stephen Chambers and Randy Lloyd, lay leaders in the Trinity Episcopal Church of Bloomington, Ind. came to the seminar hoping to find answers to their sound problems.
"We have a historic building," Lloyd explained, "but the acoustics are terrible." The church is considering remodeling options that would help update the worship space to accommodate its congregation. Lloyd said the seminar advice about shaping church space to fit an individual congregation’s needs was particularly apt.
Future trends
The NACDB predicts churches will benefit from better master planning in the future. Churches who see themselves 20 and 30 years into the future will be better able to use their site and plan for increased space. The association said churches in the future will also use more technology as facilities are becoming increasingly complex and secure. Churches of the future will be designed not only for increased use but for use as community centers and centers of the community.
