CREATING ENVIRONMENTS WITH A MISSION
With spirit and conviction we connect with communities of faith to create ministry environments that: transpire from their vision testify to their values further their mission
Project List APPLETON ALLIANCE CHURCH Appleton, WI
CASCADE FELLOWSHIP CHURCH Grand Rapids, MI
CORNERSTONE CHURCH Caledonia, MI
GRAND RAPIDS FIRST CHURCH Wyoming, MI
ST ROBERT OF NEWMINSTER PARISH Ada, MI
The expansion of Appleton Alliance Church truly reflects its mission: Connecting people with God and one another. The environment facilitates conversations and meaningful relationship connections. The church’s new and renovated spaces encourage those connections not just through a new worship experience, but also through a sports and fitness facility, exceptional children’s spaces, and welcoming “Hub” where people can encourage one another and build each other up, reinforcing grow in their faith. Connecting the East and West entries, a central hub / cafe makes both site and corridor circulation easy to navigate. Its intuitive wayfinding puts newcomers at ease and allows visitors to see all the different ministries offered.
Best Church Design Expansion
Appleton Alliance Church Appleton, WI
As an outreach tool, the AAC Hub performs well and is much more than a lobby. It supports all ministry programs by hosting banquets, wedding receptions and even the Fox Valley’s Longest Custerd Sunday. The new worship auditorium encourages ongoing growth and by retaining the existing worship venue the campus can now accommodate up to 2,700 adults in simultaneous services. These assembly venues coupled with the new hub allow for large concerts, conferences and banquets. The form and volume of the worship center is perceived from the hub and serves to begin focusing worshipers on the altar. This focus is reinforced by entrances delivering worshipers to the center of the space, establishing an intimate relationship with the platform and alter.
Xcel Sports hosts a gymnasium, an exercise room and weight training area. Sports clinics and exercise classes are open to the public making the complex a highly effective tool in reaching the surrounding community. Discovery Land’s larger than life treehouse is a beacon for children of all ages. This highly interactive, child centric environment encourage visiting kids to return with friends and family. The new master plan and subsequent expansion where developed to allow balanced growth rather than just in one ministry at a time. The resulting addition embraces the existing spaces and leverages previous capital investments made in the building. Community spaces are made transparent so passersby can see the activity within. The facility is significantly visible to both its surrounding neighborhood as well as a major thoroughfare, Highway 41 which has 40,000 cars that pass by every day.
Photography by: Progressive AE, Idibri and The Boldt Company
Each Sunday, Cascade Fellowship Church has two simultaneously active worship centers now unified by a central hub. The upper level worship venue utilizes a traditional approach to congregational interaction, music style, and seating configuration. The second venue called “The Bridge” would be considered nontraditional by most. Contemporary rock music and multiple seating options, including high top tables, create a worship experience quite different than the upper level. Before the addition, Cascade Fellowship Church struggled to create a sense of congregational unity and awareness. Now the children’s ministry and youth program have a presence and face within the hub and community. The new hub expresses a transparent and obvious point of entry from the street. When entered, the environment is filled with energy. The hub visually and physical connects the two worship venues. Regardless of which service style congregants prefer, they come together with fellowship and hospitality before and after services.
Cascade Fellowship Grand Rapids, MI
Before
The space completes their desire to reveal all ministry opportunities. Children and youth programs are visible from the hub as well as the worship venues making wayfinding intuitive for congregants and newcomers. together with fellowship and hospitality before and after services. The space completes their desire to reveal all ministry opportunities. Children and youth programs are visible from the hub as well as the worship venues making wayfinding intuitive for congregants and newcomers.
After
Photography by: JRP Studios and Progressive AE
Cornerstone Church wanted a new building to meet their growing ministry needs but also one that would feel comfortable to un-churched people in the surrounding community. “We want it to feel more like a community center and less like a traditional church” was the clear message from the building committee at the start of the project. The early master plan concepts focused on the idea of a central hub or spine that all ministries would extend out from. The hub concept was embraced and the building was designed with the future program expansions in mind.
CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
The hub has features include a clear sense of arrival, authentically connect activities and clearly demonstrates the values of those gathering. This creatively configured central space simplifies wayfinding, reveal program amenities and provides opportunities for people to linger.
WORSHIP CENTER
ITY MUN COM UB H CAFE YOUTH WORSHIP
ADMIN.
Beyond the traditional requirement of a Narthex to evoke feelings of “a warm, welcoming and inviting atmosphere” this contemporary Hub immerses all in the mission, vision, and values of a congregation making participation irresistible.
Cornerstone Church Caledonia, MI
The Corner Café touches on our desire as human beings to enjoy food with conversation. Care was taken to insure multi-generational experiences that are active, conversational, social and reflective. It’s these interactions that serve as the cornerstone for establishing and building lasting relationships. A full service kitchen serves weekly full congregational dinners and supports the café in midweek activities. The two sided café can flex with the ministry need of the day. One side opening to the youth program space, the other to the main hub allowing the church to use the full café on Sunday mornings, the hub side weekday mornings as a community coffee shop then restrict it to only the youth side for smaller events. The worship center was also designed for flexibility, including space for high top tables and stools in the back, fixed theater style seating in a sloped floor mid zone and movable seating in front. This immersive environment maximizes congregational singing sound quality and leverages theatrical style lighting and video to transform the space.
Placing prominent ministry entrances in the hub assists in wayfinding and improves circulation efficiency. First, by gathering square footage traditionally used for hallways, the Hub effectively grew into a connection zone, available for ministry flex activities. By developing a generous Hub with direct access to a children’s program area, rather than a corridor to a Children’s Wing, safety was improved. Parents can easily check in children of all ages with the ease of one stop. Pockets of soft seating in the Hub along main circulation path enable smooth transitions from one activity to another. A parent may take the opportunity to linger in soft seating and talk, not feeling pressure to move quickly out of the building after picking up youngsters. The large group youth space is visually and acoustically open the a dynamic small group loft. The café and game area opens for large activities then can close down with glass garage doors as program activities change.
Photography by: JRP Studios and Brad Dion
Grand Rapids First Church recently engaged Progressive AE to create an immersive and irresistible place which brings youth and young adults to their ministry, Vertical. GR First, a cross-generational church on a large campus within a diverse community; envisioned this project as critical for supporting their desire to help kids discover and value their individual talents, develop those gifts in a nurturing environment, and ultimately deploying them out into the community for Christ.
Grand Rapids First Church Wyoming, MI
Vertical seeks to connect each student with God at a deep level and encourages them to become real leaders, reaching new heights of integrity.
future classrooms
Within a renovated former YMCA and indoor soccer complex, pre-teens and high-schoolers gather in areas designed to support active, passive, and creative outlets, nurturing gifts of sport, dialogue, and artistry equally.
worship
entry cafe
Students bring friends from all over the metro Grand Rapids area. Remarkably, youth from up to 40 different schools are represented at any given event! GR First’s new facility has positively impacted Vertical’s ministry goals, helping to discover, develop, and deploy.
fuel
games play arts
play
worship
Photography by: Progressive AE and Grand Rapids First Church
ER ENT FE C H LI PAR IS NEW
The challenge of the addition was to “plug into� the existing church, drawing support functions from the existing church, while creating a dynamic and flexible new parish life center. The new space and existing areas are unified with a neutral zone which provides an intimate gathering area for parishioners before and after services. The space can seat can accommodate 1,200 and has a formal entry with drop-off, rest rooms, chapel, reconciliation rooms, and baptistery. A goal was to create an engaging youth center that is also neutral enough to host various groups and functions as part of a very active Catholic parish.
EXISTING BUILDING
St. Robert of Newminster Parish Ada, MI
As currently configured, the student center can hold 250 with table games and half court basketball. Established seating for 600 can be reconfigured for 1,200 for special events. Discreet, motorized presentation technology system in front of northfacing glass curtain wall allows the best of both worlds. A space full of light for general activities but easily darkened for formal presentations. The cafĂŠ has 4 garage doors able to be open to main facility, open to Parish Life Center, or both. Two divisible, flexible classrooms can be accessed from main facility or from Parish Life Center, or both. The addition also includes an office, separate staff and student toilet rooms, and a prayer chapel.
Photography by: JRP Studios
1811 Four Mile Rd. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525 | 616.361.2664 | progressiveae.com