One is hard-pressed to find a church that doesn’t place great value on its youth. There are far fewer churches, however, who have the resources and opportunity to demonstrate this by making their youth building the centerpiece of their campus. When the leadership at River Pointe Church in Richmond, Texas, realized they could do just that, they jumped at the occasion.
"We wanted vibrant colors that are more mature, instead of just adding some color for color’s sake. These colors are really organic and warm, and easy to relate to."
—TRUNG DOAN, AIA, Founding Partner, Studio Red Architects, Houston, TX.
Founded in 1996 by Patrick and Lisa Kelley, River Pointe grew from a church that conducted services in the couple’s living room to one of the country’s largest portable churches, with a fleet of five 48-foot trailers used for hauling equipment each week. After worshipping in several high schools, the church found its permanent home in 2005 on a 96-acre site in Richmond. Today, River Pointe is comprised of more than 4,000 members and an additional satellite location in Missouri City, Texas. When the church embarked on a master-planning project for its Richmond site several years ago, it turned to Studio Red Architects based in Houston.
Setting Priorities
The initial stages of the master plan originally called for the construction of a chapel, but this endeavor was postponed when it became clear that River Pointe’s growing student ministry needed a space of its own. In fact, the church’s youth were such a core element of River Pointe that not only did its leadership want a dedicated student facility—they wanted it to be the focal point of the entire master plan.
Among the biggest goals that River Pointe laid out for Studio Red was the church’s desire to create a welcoming, non-threatening space. But what did that mean? “It means creating a building that is non-institutional, that is inspired and encourages pedestrian-friendliness, that is very warm and compatible to the current campus, but also [amenable] to future expansion,” explains Trung Doan, AIA, founding partner at Studio Red. The existing campus already housed a main worship center and several ancillary facilities, and while the student building would be new, it also had to fit in with what was already on site.
“We welcome you with open arms,” as the saying goes, and Doan and his team strived to express this right at the student building’s entrance, which is slightly concave—a gesture of reception. Just off to the side of the entrance is a berm, which creates a natural spot where students can hang out together. “The whole issue of creating interpersonal relationships was very important,” Doan says. “Students can gather there and begin to build relationships with each other in getting to know Christ better.”
Design Cohesion
This same concept carries over to the building’s interior, where both the junior and senior high lobby spaces feature small rooms-within-a-room. Dynamic furnishings can be moved around depending on what the space is being used for, evolving and changing over time as the students themselves grow. An upper mezzanine provides more casual gathering spaces, and a video wall, suspended between the two levels, can be used for movie nights or for watching sports events.
With a capacity for about 125, the senior high worship space could also be described as low-key: the main seating sits 18 inches below finish grade, with banquette seating surrounding it. “The whole idea was to create a sense of casualness, to create a space where kids can socialize and form and grow their faith in a comfortable environment—almost like a home environment,” Doan explains. The junior high space, which holds approximately 150 kids, is informal in its own way: conceived for a multitude of different activities, it’s outfitted with a drainage system that allows for practical cleanup when things get messy. “It was designed with the intention that that age group has a lot of activities, and it’s not always about sitting in a chair and focusing on what’s happening on the platform. Sometimes, what the pastors may want to do is more active than that.” This space is equipped with a movable wall that can be opened up, connecting the room to the outside.
The building’s material palette is very organic: much of the structure is exposed, and most of the flooring throughout is polished concrete. “We did not try to cover up a lot of things,” Doan says. Natural stone and zinc paneling are complemented by a warm, earthy color scheme—one that is more sophisticated than what is often found in youth facilities. “We wanted vibrant colors that are more mature, instead of just adding some color for color’s sake. These colors are really organic and warm, and easy to relate to,” Doan adds.To maintain sustainability, Studio Red selected easily accessible materials that wouldn’t require long shipping distances. Outside, the parking area is unpaved gravel as a means of preventing any additional run-off that a paved area would create.
Commitment & Collaboration
Doan relays that religious facilities make up about 65% of Studio Red’s business, and that getting to know each church is at the foundation of the firm’s design process. “As architects, we have to be great listeners, because if we’re not, we’re not going to understand the church,” he says. The firm builds these relationships through frequent meetings, as well as attending worship services, Bible studies, and community outreach events to gain an understanding of how their church clients operate, and how they run their ministries.
“That way, what you can do is use your expertise and experience to manage your client’s expectations, and you can better understand their goals and what their desires are to excel and propel their church forward,” he adds.But communicating design concepts is not always easy; as every architect knows, not all laymen are adept at reading drawings. To address this, Studio Red utilizes 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, paper models and, on many occasions, old-fashioned sketches. “I still love to sketch, and I love to sketch in front of a client,” Doan says. He recounts that oftentimes he’ll project design images onto a wall, placing paper overtop so that he can sketch during presentations. During one session with River Pointe, however, he forgot to affix a sheet of paper to the wall. “I started sketching, and I must have been at it for at least five minutes before somebody said, ‘Trung, you’re drawing on the wall.’ ‘Oops!’ I said; and then I kept going! They said, ‘Don’t worry—we’ll repaint the wall.’”
It’s experiences like this that still make the process of getting to know a client energizing for Doan. “The churches we’ve worked with are all very different—there’s not a formula you can use where you say, ‘we just did this down the road for Church ABC and we think it’s going to be great for you,’” he illustrates. This constant “newness” not only keeps the job interesting, it also directs the focus on the client. “To say that we don’t have egos would be lying to you. We do have egos, but what we have learned through the years is you have got to check your egos at the door, and then come in and use your expertise to listen, and then design spaces that reflect the personality of that particular client. These are not our buildings—they’re our clients’ buildings, and they’ve got to fit the needs of our clients. We are normally involved in the process between design and construction for two years; our clients have to live with that building for decades to come.”
