Boye Architecture Church Design & Building Newsletter-June/July 2012

June 21, 2012 - PRLog -- Here are some new trends in church building and construction we like to continue to share with you:
1. SMALLER NEW FACILITIES: Growing churches are building smaller new worship facilities that range from 700 seats to about 1,000 seats. With this type of occupancy numbers, these growing churches have at least two services to meet the needs of their Sunday services.
2. MULTI-PURPOSE USE OF EXISTING FACILITIES: A popular trend for smaller and larger growing churches is the multipurpose use of church facilities. Churches are looking to maximize the utilization of every square feet of their existing spaces. A common trend is that the sanctuary is designed as a flexible space open large hall with a portable stage and movable seats that can serve as fellowship hall, auditorium, community hall, event hall and as youth church gathering hall.
3. RENOVATION OF BIG-BOX RETAIL BUILDINGS: Because of the move of retailers and movie theaters to newer facilities in newer neighborhoods, there is a lot of inventory of big-box retail buildings as well as surplus space in existing retail plazas that haven’t been leased out. As result, we are seeing that churches are buying these older retail buildings or leasing existing storefront retail spaces to accommodate their sanctuaries, fellowship halls as well as gymnasiums. These existing retail properties have ample parking spaces which benefits church’s need for large parking lot. Also, we have recently designed the renovations of an older retail plaza into a new church facility where the church kept some retail space and leased them out to create cash flow.
4. ADDITION OF COFFEE LOUNGES TO CHURCH LOBBIES & BOOKSTORES: Churches have caught wind of the social gathering/networking trends of Starbucks. Most new churches have cafés in their lobbies or their bookstores. These cafes have ample seating areas that allow people to gather before or after church service or during the week after other church functions.
5. USE OF PRE-ENGINEERED BUILDINGS TO SAVE MONEY: A major trend that is still prominent is the use of preengineered steel buildings to build church facilities. This structural system is very cost effective as it provides long spans and open large spaces that suite the large seating capacities of churches for a very cost effective price compared top traditional post and beam steel construction. The exterior of these pre-engineered buildings are then beautified with a brick or stucco clad front and side elevation.
6. CREATING CASH FLOW BY USING OF CHURCH FACILITIES AS COMMUNITY CENTERS: Another major trend is the use of church facilities for community and recreational center. Gymnasiums in many churches are now being used as gyms for local community youth basket ball leagues for a fee. Fellowship Halls are being used as event centers and conference centers for a fee. We are also seeing more churches build daycares to tap into the need for
daycare and after school programs in communities.