Eastlan Baptist Church's traditional sanctuary in Greenville, South Carolina, is now physically part of a new pre-engineered building that's attached. The result: NewSpring Church. All images: Electric Soul Creative and Equip Studio.
Eastlan Baptist Church has been a staple in the community of Greenville, South Carolina, for generations. Unfortunately, the congregation began to decline over recent years. While their heart still beat to love their community, they knew they needed help. After several years of talking back and forth with Lee McDerment, campus pastor of NewSpring Church’s Greenville campus, their idea of a merger turned into a story of “adoption.”
Within the new design exists a large, glass-filled lobby that allows NewSpring to be seen from all over Greenville as a vibrant beacon on the hill.
One crucial part of this story is the Eastlan congregation’s incredible generosity in gifting their existing 11-acre campus to NewSpring, along with the opportunity to not only bring new life to the campus, but to continue Eastlan’s mission to be a beacon on the hill for their community. Within the new design exists a large, glass-filled lobby that allows NewSpring to be seen from all over Greenville as a vibrant beacon on the hill. In addition, the design preserves Eastlan’s existing recreation field that has been used by the community for decades.
On the exterior, the joining of the two structures creates "a beautiful architectural moment—one that visibly portrays a merging of two ministry models," says Morgan Reynolds, communications director for Equip Studio in Greenville, South Carolina.
According to designers at the local offices of Equip Studio, where Jonathan Edens acted as the design principal in charge, supported by designers Peter Shamblin and Page Cross, the project represents a beautiful story of the merging of two different approaches to ministry that span across decades. As the architects on the project, Equip Studio had the unique challenge of preparing this campus for years of future growth with NewSpring’s unique brand, while still honoring the mission and vision of Eastlan’s traditional congregation.
In addition an Equip partner and associate AIA, Sandy Gibbes, had a special tie to the project. "Sandy spent four years at the Anderson campus as the youth pastor," says Morgan Reynolds, communications director at Equip Studio. "It’s special for Equip because it’s a feature project that’s seen from all over the city, and because it’s local. We design churches all over the country and the fact that this one is practically in our back yard means that it hit really close to us (literally). We love our community and love the role that this campus plays in it."
Carter T
Reynolds continues, "That said, we kept Eastlan’s main (traditional) sanctuary and gave it a complete overhaul inside to make it feel like a NewSpring campus. This renovation allowed us to keep special elements like Eastlan’s original stained glass windows and organ chambers. Both the main sanctuary and chapel were fitted with entirely new AVL systems and remote-accessed blinds that can convert the rooms to fit any occasion. The main sanctuary was renovated with an upgraded balcony and acoustic treatments to ensure beautiful sound from anywhere in the room, and the chapel was fitted with LED strips within the ceiling that allow the room to be quickly converted from a traditional daylight setting to a vibrant youth space."
"Although we demolished a small portion of the existing campus, we were able to use a pre-engineered building system directly adjacent to the existing main sanctuary to create the new lobby/pre-function space and children’s wing."
Morgan Reynolds, Communications Director, Equip Studio, Greenville, SC
While Equip Studio crafted a masterplan for the entire NewSpring Church-Eastlan Campus project, that plan is now complete.
When asked how much demolition of Eastlan's original building was required, Reynolds shares, "Although we demolished a small portion of the existing campus, we were able to use a pre-engineered building system directly adjacent to the existing main sanctuary to create the new lobby/pre-function space and children’s wing. From the interior, we painted what used to be the exterior block wall to match the new interior. This allowed us to keep the beautiful existing stained glass and fit them with a backlight system that translates as natural daylight from within the main sanctuary."
He adds, "On the exterior, this joint creates a beautiful architectural moment—one that visibly portrays a merging of two ministry models. Using consistent colors and material palette across the entire new campus, we were able to create a cohesive look, while still clearly branding the facility as NewSpring in a traditional building."
