Constructed in 1959, Hangar 61 was left in Stapleton as an historic remembrance of a bygone transportation hub. This unique structure is listed in the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties and is a frequent stop on architectural tours of Denver. It was destined to become office space until Executive Pastor Jimmy Smith and his team saw a "For Sale" sign on the property and an opportunity. Stapleton Fellowship Church purchased the building in 2010 and engaged Visioneering Studios based in Irvine, Calif., a nationwide award-winning design group, to look at "out of the box" solutions to integrate the church into the fabric of the community. Despite a minimal budget, Visioneering returned with an aeronautic theme for the structure that embraced the story of the site-keeping what some have referred to as a "Jetsonian architectural vibe" while embodying the church's vision that the new facility would be a "departure" gate for the spiritual journey of fellow travelers.
The 9,000-square-foot hangar, originally built to hold turbo-prop airliners, now houses a 3,500-square-foot worship center that seats 300 with an overlook "Sky Lounge" loft, "The Terminal" lounge, welcome area, and coffee bar. The original sliding hangar doors along with floor-to-ceiling glass walls now enclose the interior space. The floor plan for the adaptive reuse also includes the "Concourse" (lobby), nursery and preschool area on the main level, "Elevate Kids" (elementary age ministry environments) and administrative offices. Elemental materials for the redesign were simple and included unfinished concrete block walls, sealed concrete floors and bold color accent walls in the children's areas. Exposed spiral duct work, strategically placed "glowing" light clouds, reclaimed aeronautic artifacts, environmental graphics, and signage resembling aluminum airplane wings all reinforce the "flight" theme of the space.
The impressive, diamond-shaped concrete construction of Hangar 61 presented some unique challenges for its designers and especially for Summit Integrated Systems of Lafayette, Colo., the company that designed and installed audio, video and lighting systems to meet a budget of $250,000. Essentially a barrel vault of post-tensioned concrete, the hangar stands 33 feet high at its apex and spans 160 feet without any intermediate columns. Because of the historic designation of the exterior, the structure could not be modified in any significant manner. Additionally, the thin-shelled concrete structure was not designed to support any additional weight hung from the roof, so any interior structural changes had to be supported independently.
RISING TO THE AVL CHALLENGES
One of the challenges faced by the Summit Integrated team, was the request for a stereo system to effectively cover a room with concrete walls that somewhat resembled (and responded acoustically) like a loudspeaker horn. With a roofline that starts in a low, backstage area and climbs to its highest point at the back of the worship space, the auditorium presented a tight front of house expanding into broad coverage areas. Front of house components, therefore, needed to be as compact as possible without sacrificing functionality. Summit chose to approach the problem by designing a left/right stereo matrix system using two clusters, each with three Danley Sound Labs SH50 Synergy Horn full-range loudspeakers. Needing to keep the sound as direct to the audience area as possible while providing stereo imaging to each seat on the main floor, Summit took full advantage of the SH50's 50 x 50-degree pattern control. A Renkus-Heinz TRX81, a compact two-way speaker with an eight-inch woofer and one-inch compression driver loaded on the company's proprietary Complex Conic horn, was also mounted under each cluster for better near-field sound coverage to the front rows. In addition, a balcony delay was included for better audio coverage to the more remote "Sky Lounge" area. Combining two features critical for this installation-size and sound quality-a pair of compact Danley TH212 subwoofers were embedded in the front of the stage for extended low-frequency support. "The TH212 surprised us in its efficiency and sonic quality," says Summit's Shane Beesen. "Even with its compact size, it produces the high output needed for ‘chest thumping' bass to fit Stapleton's worship experience."
Two Lab.gruppen C-series C88:4 amplifiers and an FP 7000 amplifier power the loudspeakers at Stapleton. Each unit has remarkable power density, according to Summit Integrated designers (8,800 watts and 7,000 watts, respectively) in two rack space units. Signal processing and management are handled with two Biamp Systems Nexia SP digital signal processors. To control the system, Summit selected a Yamaha M7CL-32 digital mixing console for its small footprint and user-friendly interface. This mixer provides 32 mono microphone/line inputs, four stereo inputs, and three mini-YGDAI card slots for flexible expansion along with 16 mix buses, LCR bus, eight matrix channels, and eight DCAs assignable to 16 omni outputs, all in a small package. On-stage monitoring was implemented using five Aviom A-16II personal mixers to allow each performer to have control of the mix while keeping stage noise at a minimum.
Summit Integrated's goal for video at Stapleton was to keep things simple and effective, since all the audio, media and lighting is handled by only two technicians. Because the church had previous experience using ProPresenter worship and lyric presentation software, Summit suggested the addition of a Matrox TripleHead2Go graphics presentation module for background flexibility with a minimal learning curve. A Sony BRC300 PTZ [pan-tilt-zoom] camera with joystick control was installed to provide a live camera feed from the worship space to the hangar's digital signage. With its joystick control and presets, one operator can quickly adjust the camera position without leaving his post. The video signal runs directly to a MacPro and through to ProPresenter using BlackMagic Design's DeckLink HD card. Other source gear, including satellite TV, Apple TV and a DVD Player, is directed by an FSR PathFinder 8x8 video matrix for high-resolution video distribution.
The unique room size and shape of the worship space allows the use of three Sony 51-inch ?at panel LED displays above the stage as an alternative to video projection, which keeps the resolution, brightness and contrast ratio as high as possible. Plexiglass-covered Toshiba 42-inch displays are embedded in the stage floor as stage displays. Distribution to the worship center displays is aptly handled with Hall Research Video Cat5 baluns with signal directed to the lobby and common areas via two channels of ZeeVee Tv ZVPRO 280 RF distribution. An auxiliary video input was integrated into the center stage floor box to accommodate guest presenters with a laptop on-stage.
LIGHT AS AIR
Stapleton wanted a lighting design that would suit their space, be flexible and produce a progressive look to fit their worship experience. For this, Summit employed a variety of ellipsoidal, color LED and moving fixtures along with a custom box truss. LED color lighting is provided by four Chauvet COLORado 1 Tri-tour fixtures that feature RGBW color mixing from 14 three-watt, tri-color LEDs, helping to eliminate multi-colored shadows and produce even color. The five distinct dimming curves of these fixtures provide smooth dimming to closely match conventional sources. The church provided Elation DesignSpot 250s that were mounted on top of box truss to add dynamic, moving light on stage. Dimming control is handled by an Entertainment Technologies dimmer rack, used for both the house and theatrical ?xtures. Front light is provided by eight ETC Source 4 Jr. 26 degree ellipsoidal fixtures. Two custom-sized circle trusses were suspended from the ceiling above the stage and articulated by ProStar ¼-ton chain motors for added effect.
To complete the lighting installation, a Jands Vista S1 lighting control surface was integrated for its extensive features, small footprint and user-friendly interface. Robert Winbigler, Stapleton's media expert, says that after Summit's basic training on the Vista S1, it was easy to continue learning the console's more advanced features. "I was able to just ‘go with it'", he says, "I only occasionally need to pick up the manual."
This successful redemption of an existing space in the heart of a modern community reinforces the designer's claims that the Stapleton project exemplifies the future of sacred space. More importantly, the building design, sound, lighting and media all help to create a unique worship experience where, as Pastor Smith likes to say, "You can take off on your journey with God."
