by W. Neal Roseberry, AIA, Principal, LeMay Erickson Willcox Architects
Until perhaps the early 1970âs, most church building projects were designed almost entirely under a single church contract with an architect. In those days, before the advent of current environmental awareness, building, accessibility and health codes, and high-tech audio-visual sophistication, an experienced single architect could largely design an entire church building, including its site work (usually on one single drawing), and specification of major equipment and furnishings.
Those days are long-gone, to say the least. Today, the process of designing and getting approval for a building project involves a host of specialized engineers and consultants. Roughly, these consultants are divided between those parts of the project related to the site, outside the building, and those consultants involved with the building itself. The Civil Engineer coordinates most aspects of site design, and the Architect coordinates most aspects of the Building Design.
Site entitlement (securing the right to build), Site Design and Site Plan approval are in most jurisdictions more time-consuming than the building design and permit approval itself. Site Design today involves a host of calculations and requirements, with many centered around storm water management (SWM) and other Best Management Practices (BMPâs) as required to protect the Chesapeake Bay. Site development costs may represent up to 30% of the entire construction cost of a project. Given the costs associated with site design today, selection of the right Civil Engineer is nearly if not as important as selection of the right Architect or General Contractor.
Inside the building, the Architectâs contract for âbasic servicesâ will typically include the structural, mechanical, plumbing and electrical consultants needed to design a new church project. Depending on the complexity of the proposed project, there may be many other additional consultants that make-up the full design team. These âspecialty consultantsâ may include:
- An Acoustical Engineer, to ensure the spaces have the proper acoustical performance;
- An Audio-Visual Engineer, to properly program and specify the A/V equipment, especially for worship and performance spaces;
- A Lighting Consultant, to make sure that specialty lighting looks and functions as it needs to;
- A Food Service Consultant, to program and specify kitchen equipment to meet the desired program needs;
- Stained Glass Artists;
- A Furniture Consultant, to fit-out a building with the furnishings needed to accommodate office, meeting and hospitality needs.
Church design today is custom-fit to the needs of each client to meet the performance requirements of that congregation. Along with the basic site and building design, your church architect may direct a team of specialty consultants to meet your specific program requirements. Long-gone are the cookie-cutter, red-brick Georgian churches of our parents and grandparents. Church facilities today are highly custom, sophisticated âengines of ministry,â requiring a team of consultants to meet demanding codes, ordinances, and program requirements.
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