Update & Information from our Design Team!
In any renovation there are hundreds if not thousands of decisions that need to be made to bring the project to completion. The design team meets weekly to work through these decisions with Steve and Josh!
The first step was meeting with the architect and working on structural and layout decisions. This included wall and plumbing placement in the fellowship hall and stage height and stair design in the sanctuary. As with any team making decisions we have had some lively discussions!
Here is one example of our process: Just to determine the stage height we spent time with each of us standing at different heights with team members sitting throughout the sanctuary to figure out what makes for the best viewing while keeping our worship teams and pastor connected with the congregation. There is no one right answer, of course, so we sought to hear from each other and selected together — 24 inches with oak steps that will run all the way across the stage.
Once the structure and layout were completed and architecture plans were in place, we moved on to selecting hard finishes. The builder gave us samples from which to choose. We have a pretty tight budget! Thankfully the builder shows us only what is in the budget. We have selected flooring (a warm woodtone color called flaxen) and interior doors for the fellowship hall. For each door we had to determine not only the finish (a medium brown birch), but also window placement (if any) as well as swing direction. There are a surprising number of doors in that space!
Currently our task is selecting carpet color for the sanctuary. There will be carpet down the aisles as well as in the front and back of the pews and in the lobby area. Tile will remain under the pews.
Once we are done with hard finishes, it's time to move on to paint color! We have narrowed down the colors pretty well at this point. We have given the builder several ideas of paint color for the fellowship hall ceiling. They will paint samples for us and then we will choose from that.
Each week, Steve meets with Chris, the builder, and brings to us the next steps in decision making. While we have had to defer some of our ideas to a later phase of construction to stay within budget, we are excited about the overall design of the space and look forward to continuing on to the next steps which will include decorations and furnishings!
