Granger Community Church's children's space; image: Architecture Is Fun
Walk down the super-sized hallways at Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana, and you’ll discover a chicken’s rear end has punctured the wall. Is it a one-liner? We all think we know the proverbial answer to “why did the chicken cross the road?” It is, after all, an iconic joke. Maybe that is just what the giant chicken in the hallway is. Or is it?
Getting your client to buy in, to get to the other side, takes a lot of listening. At Granger Community Church, we [Architecture Is Fun in Chicago] spent a lot of time envisioning the themed environments for their new children’s ministry. We held listening sessions with pastors, leadership, staff, volunteers, families, and children. Programming is often a laundry list of what must be included, from check-in desks to stage, and from bathroom to lots of storage. Extend programming to be about the experience, too. Ask about what it should feel like, what’s the potential flow, what will children, staff, and volunteers do and, most importantly, how might it look and feel. That’s how you gain a sense of the play and learning that the environment can support; and critically, what the enthusiasm is for caring for that environment.
Programming is often a laundry list of what must be included, from check-in desks to stage, and from bathroom to lots of storage. Extend programming to be about the experience, too.
GCC Chicken NAEA Award
Clearly, a farm theme, working the family farm, seems perfectly suited to early childhood. The friendly farmer, also larger than life, is a gateway that welcomes young visitors to this play space and classroom. Lego sheep and dog tables, are all at home here and present a cornucopia of hands-on activity. They’re also designed to store their loose parts and help kids tend the farm, cleaning up after themselves. So how did we get to that giant chicken?
Ideas percolate when architects listen. We heard warm, active, and “that faith and form are found in the humblest of places.” We heard make it big. Make it fun. We heard make it funny. Kids love jokes. The chicken’s derriere makes this place even more accessible.
So, we came back with concepts. The interactive elements become farm friends to the children who care for them. Iconographic and symbolic elements, which children easily understand and appreciate, make them feel welcome and safe. They are playful and purposeful.
That farmer is watching over you, for sure. And that chicken with its butt out the window is like the riddle. You know the punchline, but you keep asking it again and again.
How do we get clients to the other side–to approve the design? We listen. They invest. They buy in. They take a leap of faith. And laugh!
