A major challenge for 12Stone's architect was the building’s dual tenancy—as church/event space and as the John C. Maxwell Leadership Center—which would need to accommodate two functional uses and entrances. Artwork courtesy of EDP Collaborative Design.
The design of 12Stone Church’s Sugarloaf Campus in Duluth, Georgia, has proven itself over time. Completed in 2014, the campus is one of seven physical locations for the popular church in suburban Atlanta and a key location for the church’s streaming and production activities. The 70,000 sf facility designed by Ed Palisoc (AiA NCARB) Executive Principal at EDP Collaborative Design of Norcross, Georgia, is remarkable in many respects. But most notably for its striking and well-considered design that facilitates the building’s use as both a church with 800-seat worship center equipped and as the home of the John C. Maxwell Leadership Center that houses training and conference spaces similarly equipped with the latest technology and a full AV production staff.
Enabled by its flowing design, the busy conference facility hosts community organizations, as well as top-flight industry conferences including the upcoming Capture Summit 2022 in July, a three-day conference where church filmmakers will engage with the staff and the facility to learn and refine their craft as Christ’s storytellers.
For this initial project for 12Stone Church, Ed Palisoc, AIA NCARB, and executive principal at EDP Collaborative Design of Norcross, Georgia, worked closely with his associate, Mark Swain, and church leaders to realize designs for Sugarloaf and a smaller 19,000-square-foot Hamilton Mill campus in Buford, Georgia.
“The design of the Sugarloaf Campus was a wonderful project that allowed an architect not only a rare opportunity of artistic expression, but also an inspiration that allowed the project to unveil itself in a natural and flowing manner nearly every step of the way,” recalls Palisoc. “From the beginning, the project really resonated with me.”
Enabled by its flowing design, the busy conference facility hosts community organizations, as well as top-flight industry conferences including the upcoming Capture Summit 2022 in July ...
For this initial project for 12Stone Church, Palisoc worked closely with his associate, Mark Swain, and church leaders to realize designs for Sugarloaf and a smaller 19,000-sf Hamilton Mill campus. “It was very important to get it right,” says Palisoc, “because this project would establish the visual branding of 12Stone Church into the future.”
United by ellipses
Architectural inspiration for the project stemmed from 12Stone Church, John C. Maxwell, and their common history. Named as the fastest growing church in America in 2010, 12Stone Church had just celebrated its 25th anniversary with 11,000 attending an arena celebration. The John C. Maxwell Leadership Center would be a home for an international leadership development organization founded by leadership expert, speaker, and author, John C. Maxwell. In 2014, Maxwell was named the No. 1 leadership and management expert in the world by Inc. Magazine.
Paying homage to roots common to both organizations, Palisoc’s final design incorporated elements from the Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University, including an elliptical building form that is an important and recognizable attribute of the Seminary. An important influence throughout the design, the shape was also instrumental in solving a major design consideration.
Paying homage to roots common to both organizations, Palisoc’s final design incorporated elements from the Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University, including an elliptical building form that is an important and recognizable attribute of the Seminary.
A major challenge for Palisoc was the building’s dual tenancy which would need to accommodate two functional uses and entrances. The John C. Maxwell Leadership Center and 12Stone Church both needed and deserved their own identity and “front door.” How to provide this important design criterion on a singular building site was resolved through the use of an elliptical form. “The use of ellipses serves to reinforce the special bond that exists between John C. Maxwell and 12Stone Church,” notes Palisoc, “and the ellipse's two axial lines facilitated the space for separate entrances and provided distinct formal approaches for both entities.”
The elliptical form also evolved to become the main circulatory guide for the structure and serves as a reference back to the beginning, both in a tangible way and spiritually. The ellipses is expressed upwards through multiple levels to become a crown of light tall enough to be visible from the neighboring interstate highway. The shape is married with 12 stone piers, with the outlier pier being braced, engaged, and drawn back by the main body. A unifying canopy binds the piers together under common shelter as visitors approach its doors.
Drawing people in
The monumental stair and “lighthouse” present another anchor point for the structure. Like a beacon to those that approach the site, it serves as a visual landmark both from the exterior and interior. Curving and flowing forms both on the ground and overhead lead the journey from one end of the structure to the other while the creative use of light naturally guides visitors from one location to the next. The design’s use of glass and light invite those on the outside to see in and feel drawn to the building and its activities.
Meeting space; all images: 12Stone Church Sugarloaf campus
The building's monumental stair space also provides places for spontaneous meetings to occur. Each oversized tread of the stairway was designed to be wide enough to be an informal gathering place for visitors that pass each other and feel compelled to converse and interact. It is a voluminous space that reaches upwards and opens up to the people outside, again, welcoming them to participate inside.
References to the number 12 are expressed in many places throughout the project, from the lights and millwork in the main lobby, to the proportional ratios that define the rooms within. The 12 buttresses that define the perimeter of the worship center have 12 fins that also create 12 crosses. Finally, the angular relationship of the ellipse and worship center to the interstate and the site itself is also represented by twelve degrees.
The flexible design of the Sugarloaf building has allowed for recent updates to the worship center, including the important addition of production studio space, additional control rooms, and new technology necessary to make the site the church’s main broadcast campus.
12Stone Church occupies part of the facility that initially included a 1,000-seat worship center, a 190-seat auditorium, offices, production studios, and a substantial space for the children’s ministry with a separate entrance. The flexible design of the Sugarloaf building has allowed for recent updates to the worship center, including the important addition of production studio space, additional control rooms, and new technology necessary to make the site the church’s main broadcast campus. Recent technology updates include a large stage with professional lighting and a wide LED wall that can be employed with an array of engineering and film-style cameras and a broadcast audio desk. “With this technology we fulfill any broadcast requests for any event,” says Taylor Davis, production director for the church. “The main worship center offers state-of-the-art audio from Digico and Meyer, lighting from GrandMA and Martin, and video gear from Ross and Grass Valley.”
References to the number 12 are expressed in many places throughout the project, from the lights and millwork in the main lobby, to the proportional ratios that define the rooms within.
The John C. Maxwell Center has an exhibit hall, board room, and meeting rooms with full ultra-modern AV capabilities that are easily configurable, including spaces for 160 or 50 persons, making the center ideal to host community organizations and visiting conferences.
A spacious 5,000-square-foot common lobby with a full-service Starbucks café and a rotunda offer large windows that allow natural light to stream in from the high ceilings. Woodwork in the main spaces are fashioned from Lebanese Cedar, hearkening to references in Scripture to the Trees of God; a testament to the stature and strength of 12Stone Church and John C. Maxwell’s ministry.
“Religious edifices present a rare and beautiful opportunity for the architect to explore and express deeper metaphorical and spiritual relationships between site, building, congregation, and God,” says Palisoc, who is quick to add that it is important for church designers to include budget constraints in their definition of success, too, in a positive way. “You can take advantage of constraints if you can view them as opportunities–ways in which you can explore,” he says. “When the final expression of a design can be greater than the client has envisioned–and it is all within budget–well, that is truly satisfying. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to do that for 12Stone Church at Sugarloaf.”
Design Architect: EDP Collaborative Design; Architect Ed Palisoc/Mark Swain
Architect of Record: Wakefield, Beasley & Associates
Structural, MEP: McVeigh & Mangum Engineering
General Contractor: Van Winkle Construction
