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AV integrators and architects must “play well together.” Both groups are part of a team that must work alongside each other to create worship spaces that look great, sound great and are functional for the end-user--the church.
Church.Design takes a look at this unique working relationship and offers tips and advice from both a top integrator and a top designer.
WAVE co-founder and executive director Armando Fullwood, audio, visual, lighting, and acoustics (AVLA) integration specialist based in Concord, N.C., says his firm is adamant about starting projects before the design is established.
“It’s a collective from the beginning. We tend to have a definite say in room shape, acoustics and the system, so we like to build those in the model with the architects.” Armando Fullwood, Co-Found and Executive Director, WAVE, Concord, NC
“If you have the right room shape that matches the style of church then that helps dictate the level of AV equipment you need in the room,” Fullwood explains. “If you over or under engineer the equipment, that messes with power costs and conduit costs, and also [creates] visual issues with the architect.”
From Fullwood’s perspective, the most successful church design or redesign projects begin with integrators, builders, and architects all together at the drawing table. “It’s a collective from the beginning,” he says. “We tend to have a definite say in room shape, acoustics and the system, so we like to build those in the model with the architects.”
Fullwood also advises that churches select design teams that are true design engineers and who know how to speak the language of architects. Churches should also ask integrators about the status of the project management schedule and staff because “it’s all about documentation, documentation, documentation,” which provides accountability for the church and the bank.
“They took three weeks to let the building go through run-throughs and simulated church services so that we could test-drive the building before we had to do it in front of the congregation. When [it] came time to open the building on the first Sunday morning, it felt like we had been in the building for a year."Armando Fullwood, Co-Found and Executive Director, WAVE, Concord, NC
Word of Life in Jackson, Miss., Fullwood says, is a great example of a project that went right. The building kept everyone on schedule but even more importantly, the church client had realistic expectations throughout the build process and even after the building was completed. “They took three weeks to let the building go through run-throughs and simulated church services so that we could test-drive the building before we had to do it in front of the congregation,” he says. “When [it] came time to open the building on the first Sunday morning it felt like we had been in the building for a year.”

Louvenia Harris
Word of Life, Jackson, MS
The opposite situation is more common: integrators putting the final touches on their installations at 1 a.m. Saturday night before the Sunday morning service.
Design First
John Storyk, a founding partner of Walters-Storyk Design Group (WSDG), a 50-year-old firm with offices in New York, Miami, Europe and Brazil and representation across the globe that specializes in architectural acoustics and systems engineering, employs a different workflow on his projects.
“In some instances, integrators create design-build scenarios,” Storyk says. “The integrators—the people who install the work--are also the designers and think of it as a turnkey package.”
WSDG functions as a designer only, not as an installer. “We design systems and then allow the designs to become working drawings, contract bid drawings, and then integrators bid projects based on our drawings and we oversee and supervise and commission,” Storyk explains.
“We design systems and then allow the designs to become working drawings, contract bid drawings, and then integrators bid projects based on our drawings and we oversee and supervise and commission." John Storyk, Founding Partner, Walters-Storyk Design Group (WSDG), New York, NY
The potential benefit for the church under this scenario boils down to transparency: an independent person with no ties to specific vendors or products creates a design package that is in the best interest of the church and that uses the best technology, which is then competitively bid.
More and more churches, especially the larger ones that have in-house AV people on staff, Storyk maintains, are shifting toward hiring an independent designer first followed by a bidding process, second.
There are plenty of instances where the installers also become the designers, however, Storyk says, “I like to keep church and state separate.”
Storyk points out, “Things go wrong. Things come up. Site conditions change. Equipment manufacturer discontinues a product and you have to substitute some things, lots of things. It’s a nonstop parade of real-world situations. And in some instances, some of those situations present problems and there’s going to be a moment when the design professional and the installation professional are at odds with each other. If it’s the same person, you’re not really going to get a healthy conversation.”
Substitutions, for instance, are a recurring theme. Designers may specify a brand or system but when it comes time to build, the installer may want to substitute a product that’s 25% cheaper.
That’s not a problem, Storyk says, if an independent designer reviews and evaluates the substitute and finds the substitute to be equal to the product specified in the original shop drawing. “We’ll evaluate and maybe there is a cost saving that can be shared with the church,” he says.
Storyk advises churches not to skip the construction and administration (CA) process with their designer.
To solidify this relationship, Storyk advises churches not to skip the construction and administration (CA) process with their designer. For $3,000 or $4,000 a month, he notes, the CA process keeps the designer on the job from beginning to end, monitoring the project through meeting attendance, substitution reviews, and site inspections.
Small World
One area where Storyk and Fullwood are in complete agreement is that both integrators and architects work closely together and that over time, those relationships become positive—or sometimes negative—referrals.
“In reality, the designers are friends with the system installers,” Storyk says. “Architectural, acoustic and systems design is what we do for a living. But we know the installers. If we’re designing a recording studio in New York, it doesn’t take long before the client says, do you know the best builders?”
"Trust over time is always the best relational builder.” Armando Fullwood, Co-Found and Executive Director, WAVE, Concord, NC
Fullwood adds: “You definitely want a team that has trust value. The lion’s share of the work we do now is simply referral business. The vendors and the architects trust our end product. Trust over time is always the best relational builder.”