North Mar Church
Intro
North Mar Church
North Mar Church invited a select group of architectural firms to interview for and provide initial design schemes for their renovation and expansion project. Based on those interviews and initial schemes they selected Phillips|Sekanick Architects, inc. as their design team. The scope of the project went through numerous changes during the early phases of design and ultimately included an administrative addition, an indoor playground addition, and renovation of the existing administration and nursery to provide internal circulation and a large classroom.
Details
North Mar Church
Challenge
This active church was outgrowing their available administrative space and was using classroom space for staff offices. As a result, they found themselves short on both classroom and administrative space. Although the building had an elevator it was challenging for handicap users to navigate through the building and its multiple levels – even able bodied users needed to go up and down stairs through the classroom portion of the building to get from the sanctuary to the existing gymnasium. The church also had “wish list” items to create an indoor playground for the youngest members of the congregation, a larger basketball court with bleachers, and a small theater for about 60 to 90 people.
Solution
By expanding into a grass area just north of the existing sanctuary Phillips|Sekanick Architects, inc. was able to provide all of the requested administrative office spaces in one area and open up the opportunity for a new entry which would provide easy access for all building users from the sanctuary to the existing gymnasium via a ramp and corridor. While the building committee did not elect to pursue all of their wish list items during this construction project, they did accept the proposed alternate for an Indoor Playground. To better connect the nursery with the Indoor Playground a second handicap accessible ramp was created using renovated space within the building. During construction a renovated area that had been planned and bid as two separate classrooms was opened up to be a single large classroom. This required a significant structural change including installation of a new beam supporting the floor above along with a new column and foundation to support the beam. The design team was able to quickly generate the revised structural drawings and keep construction progressing.
