Christ Lutheran Vail in Vail, Arizona spent the past decade using a local high school for its Sunday services--and it was looking to expand. The church owned property for its modular offices as well as an adjacent preschool, and it reached out to Tucson-based SDG Architecture to help design a new sanctuary, utilizing an existing building and adding a street presence.
Scott Feltheim, principal architect at SDG Architecture, spoke with Church.Design about the project, completed in November 2020.
Church Design: How did you first get involved with Christ Lutheran Vail and this project?
Feltheim: I interviewed with the church about 12 years ago to do a whole new complex and wasn’t selected. About five years ago, I got called by the pastor, who remembered me, and he wanted to see if I was interested in a new project. We had experience working on churches and we were local, and he was looking for stability.
Church Design: What do you remember about that first meeting and what Pastor Hook was looking for in the design?
Feltheim: He wanted someone who was able to help the church with the lengthy process of building the new sanctuary. He had multiple committees, and during our initial design research we involved as much of the congregation as possible. We had a charrette of about 60-70 members of the congregation and we discussed everything from their concept of church, concept of beauty, and got a feel holistically of what they would want and not want.
Church Design: What was that vision?
Feltheim: The needs for the new sanctuary included multi-use, ease of configuration and build, and most importantly, a space that created a sense of reverence and worship without reverting to a theatrical black box. Therefore, the structure of the roof, walls, window placement, materials, and orientation all played a role in creating such a space.
"We came up with a design where we had north-facing windows that were a decorative element that let in passive light, but not any direct light."
Church Design: What were some of the challenges of the design?
Feltheim: We started off with creating master plans for the property and then began designing the new sanctuary building with a caveat—because they are a Lutheran congregation, at that time there was a non-profit group of retired Lutherans who would grab an RV and drive around to different churches and build for a very small fee. We started designing it for that
group, but it wound up being cost prohibitive to go that route. Ironically, at the same time, a member of the church who does a lot with prefabricated metal buildings came in and said he would help if we would change the structure from a wood frame to a metal building. The design committee was very concerned because they didn’t want it to look like a shed parked on their property, so we had to redesign it to use the metal skeleton but still make it look like a custom church.
Church Design: How was light used in the design?
Feltheim: In Arizona, light is very important because if you have too much of it, you will cook! We are very cognitive of that. There were two aspects of this. One was the amount of natural light we wanted in the building, and the consensus was for the non-sanctuary spaces, we wanted as much natural light as possible without it being direct light that would increase energy build. In the sanctuary, they wanted less light so they could have control over that in terms of video and lighting. They didn’t want a black box where everything was air tight and completely controlled by the light booth. But they wanted it so they could have that aspect if they wanted to. So, we came up with a design where we had north-facing windows that were a decorative element that let in passive light, but not any direct light, so the ambient light levels were what we tried to get in.
Church Design: With COVID, people are more concerned than ever about safety. How did you ensure that when it opened, the congregation would feel safe about coming out to the church?
Feltheim: Everything was designed pre-COVID, but National Building Codes really have you put in a lot of fresh air in your mechanical systems in an occupancy of a sanctuary. This was going to be a very high air-quality environment from the get-go. All we really needed to do was switch out the filters to a higher filtration to make it up to current standards.
"Once you get inside the building, we used the veneer ... to wrap either side of the stage, where we also integrated the AV systems. "
Church Design: How did the design take into consideration the importance of community gatherings?
Feltheim: From a design standpoint, we have a full commercial kitchen in a specific location, and it’s designed so they can do big community catering events in the sanctuary. They could do banquets, weddings, and all sorts of things. This particular part of Vail is quite rural and the whole community is kind of a bedroom suburb to Tucson, and there are not a lot of gathering places in the area. With COVID, they haven’t been able to do a lot, but it is designed where, in the future, hopefully they will be able to hold more.
Church Design: What sorts of energy efficiency measures were included in the design?
Feltheim: Everything from an insulation standpoint is a notch above what code requires. The mechanical systems are the most efficient that you can get for that type of occupancy. No windows were facing direct sun, and awnings were placed ... facing west to help protect them till the late hours of the day. We also have designed it so we are collecting some of the rain water to help irrigate the landscaping nearby. We also added low-flush urinals in the bathrooms and low-flow fixtures in the bathroom to minimize use of water.
"We also have designed it so we are collecting some of the rain water to help irrigate the landscaping nearby."
Church Design: What other design features do you believe work especially well?
Feltheim: We used a colonnade of stone veneer that wraps around the building and helps guide people into the building but also creates the veneer of the exterior to a certain degree, so the cross is integrated with this stone colonnade. That helps you focus on that rather than the metal building behind it. We wanted to have eyes focus on something natural, but technically, the stone isn’t holding up the building.
"We used a colonnade of stone veneer that wraps around the building and helps guide people into the building ..."
Once you get inside the building, we used the veneer, as well, to wrap either side of the stage, where we also integrated the AV systems. The speakers and the screens are part of the architecture; they are not an afterthought, as much as possible.
Church Design: The ceiling design has some interesting elements. What went into your design choices above?
Feltheim: I call them the clouds and they were designed for a multiple of uses. One was it helps with acoustics. We don’t have a solid ceiling surface across the entire sanctuary, so breaking it up helps with reverb and the audio signals bouncing to the back and dispersing. Visually, it also makes the ceiling even taller than what it is. We had veneer wood put on it, too.
Church Design: How will the relationship between the church and the firm continue?
Feltheim: They are going to be finishing more of the landscaping soon, and we’ll be creating a courtyard that will integrate with the existing buildings. We’ll also be working with them on Phase 2, which we will start designing [in spring 2021].