Overcoming Acoustic and Architectural Limitations

Most church leaders today face a common challenge—how to overcome acoustic and architectural limitations in traditional and non-traditional worship spaces. And although challenges can be the best teachers for designers, it's always good to learn from the advice of someone else who has already been through those challenges before you fact them one-on-one.

Franklin, Tenn.-based Mankin Media Systems Senior Solutions Advisor Tim Corder spoke to Church.Design about some of the biggest AVL problem spots he sees in churches--and how to overcome them.

Church.Design: What is a common architectural trend that you’re seeing in the industry?

Corder: While from the ground-up new construction will always be a foundation of the house of worship design industry, we are seeing a significant uptick in the number of unconventional spaces being brought to us with the goal of enhancing through technology. These include historical spaces that are typically more traditional in nature and unconventional spaces such as storefronts, abandoned big-box retail stores, and converted office spaces.

Much has been written about ground-up new construction, but these other building segments provide unique challenges both architecturally and technically. Either space is full of a number of inherent limitations, leading to the need for increased collaboration between architectural and technology designers.

Church.Design: How have acoustical performance expectations changed as these new architectural segments have developed?

Corder: In this new reality, effective acoustic design, isolation tools, and performance treatment are more critical now than ever before. We are quickly exiting a phase in room design of the past several decades where the common acoustical performance goal for a modern worship space was to achieve a “dead room,” one where the room did not negatively (or positively) affect the reinforced output from the loudspeaker system. The problem with this result, we are told by many of our clients, is that it reinforced an unspoken result of a more performance-oriented style of worship rather than an immersive, participatory one.

Today we are being asked to create rooms with some degree of acoustic “life,” [meaning] natural decay that acts as a harmonious voice in partnership with the sound reinforcement system rather than expecting 100% of the acoustic environment to be created electronically, all in the name of an immersive experience for the congregation.

Church.Design: What are the biggest challenges churches in historic spaces with acoustic and architectural limitations face in creating an authentic worship space for their church?

Corder: Historic spaces can be challenging to address since normally the framework for these conversations surround some kind of strategic or creative ministry change that is causing a disconnect between what the space was originally constructed to be and how it is to be used today. There are typically strong limitations in structure, electrical, mechanical, acoustics, sightlines, architectural elements, and so on because the space was not originally intended to support this new desired content.

I have found through experience that the best results come out of embracing the tension of limitations and allowing them to inform the overall direction, with authenticity. A traditional space can never be a modern black box theatre with authenticity. So the only choice is to embrace it and exploit what makes the historic space unique. Creative use of color through lighting, digital canvases to supplement and/or support existing architectural elements, technology that supports the bones of the space rather than detracting from it are all important. The worst thing to me is to see an updated historical space and for it to clearly feel like modern day technology was planted into the space without intentionality, fit, and finish.

Church.Design: Can you give us an example of a traditional church project and tell us how you helped the church overcome its challenges?

Corder: One of my personal favorites was for Northeast Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina. The primary goal of this project was to update the feel and function of the sanctuary into a versatile space where their traditional orchestra and choir-driven service would feel just as comfortable as their contemporary band-driven environments. Additionally, it was important to honor the tradition and reverence of the room, which has been their primary meeting place for nearly 30 years.

We worked closely with the architect from day one, helping to develop the look and feel of the room in an extremely fast-tracked process. It was determined early on that a large “digital canvas” LED video wall would be centered behind the choir loft as a universal visual anchor to the overall environment. Lighting both on the stage and throughout the room would be key to establishing and enhancing the look and feel of the space. As such, the entire system--including house lights--is 100% color changing LED based. Concise audio was crucial to the success of the project, as it needed to be equally distributed, but not over-treated, to serve both musical styles. This led us to partnering with an acoustician who did strategic listening sessions in the existing space, as well as exhaustive measurements and design of the space to really fine-tune the performance.

While the church was excited to update the feel and function of their current space, there was also a sense of hesitancy, as it was very clear they did not want to compromise either of their distinct service styles. Additionally, there was apprehension that so much new technology would create challenges for their volunteers. Ultimately, these areas became points of pride in the project.

Church.Design: What are the biggest architectural and acoustic limitations for churches who make their home in spaces like abandoned big-boxes, strip malls and office buildings?

Corder: Most existing commercial spaces were not developed to house a worship space--again whether structurally, acoustically, electrically, mechanically, and so on. These spaces also typically introduce a new limitation—a significantly lower ceiling height than a purpose-built church or theater would have, along with structural columns that impair sightlines for a large gathering space.

However, much like historical spaces, the most important factor to a well done, intentional result with unconventional bones is to embrace what makes it unique and run with it. If there is a low ceiling, no amount of technology will make it high. However, the right lighting fixtures will draw attention away from the limitation and instead make the low ceiling feel intentional. If there are acoustic or noise challenges, it is rare that it will be practical for this to be sufficiently corrected after the core structure has been constructed. Instead, the loudspeaker system and acoustic performance of the room must be married together in such a way to minimize distractions and maximize engagement. Unconventional room dimensions and ratios can be exploited to create a unique experience that would never be possible in a more conventional space.

Church.Design: Can you share an example of a project in a former commercial space and how you helped the church overcome its challenges?

Corder: Mountain Christian Church had been looking for property in Abingdon, MD for a long time to launch their fourth campus, but viable real estate options were few and far between. Finally, leadership found space in an office park in a prime location in town. The biggest challenge: the building only had 13-feet of usable height inside!

We developed the room shape, stage details, and seating layout first in order to minimize obstructions for sightlines and audio. The stage was designed so that it would be framed by existing structural columns. LED video side screens flank the stage in such a way as to hide the columns as much as possible. The acoustic plan was intentionally developed to create a strong balance in performance for both music and speech. The visuals of the stage were created to emphasize variety from a common set of tools. Multiple “layers” utilize a mix of LED lighting fixtures and a curved low-resolution blow-through LED video wall. Color-changing house lighting was important to break down the fourth wall from the stage and make the room feel more immersive.

As churches look to expand their regional presence, one of the most common themes I hear from leadership teams is the consistent challenge of finding strategic, affordable real estate. This room’s design and execution can be a prototype for churches all across the country to be able to consider an entirely new class of space option due to the innovative design in what would historically be considered a less than ideal space.

Church.Design: How do you balance ministry needs with stewardship?

Corder: Hundreds if not thousands of books have been written on this subject because of how difficult it is to tackle this subject in just a few sentences.

The tension of ministry needs and stewardship must always be balanced with each ministry’s unique DNA--their mission, vision, values, and strategies. Technology for technology’s sake has proven inauthentic time and again. But technology that effectively and authentically supports and enhances the experience a church wants their congregation to have acts as a catalyst rather than a distraction. Ministry catalysts are evaluated and prioritized differently than cool toys for the purpose of cool. Every ministry will navigate this tension differently and there isn’t necessarily one right or wrong conclusion.

Stewardship is about more than the amount of money you spend or don’t spend. Stewardship also means to me the shepherding (or wasting) of resources. I believe that vision, mission, and values are one of the most important resources for us to steward. The Church’s mission is so important that how can we not responsibly use all of the available tools of the day to advance this goal?

Regardless the project budget, in a thriving ministry we know from the outset that there will be more dreams than there are resources to accomplish everything. My responsibility as a river guide to our clients is embrace the tensions in guiding ideation for a space. Effectively marrying DNA to tangible tools equals a win to me.