For a church designer, new tools help realize new visions. Here's a look at some of the shapes, tools, 3D capabilities, and apps that designers say they're using to bring the church of the future into the present.
Professional Drywall Construction Inc., a construction company in Springfield, Massachussets, has come up with an Origami machine that can generate perfect corners or even a rounded edge using drywall. This allows them to create complex designs never before possible using gypsum, wood, plastic, and even cement board, and solve construction problems contractors and designers have struggled with for years.
“We wanted to be able to utilize shapes to make our lives easier and make estimating easier,” says Ron Perry, owner and president of the company. “It helps make time in the field a little bit faster.”
For a church designer, it can help in many regards, most notably—soffits. For example, if the church has a ceiling height that’s 20 feet and there’s a change in direction and height, the transition can be made easily with shapes and corners created and installed seamlessly. That can save roughly 50% of the time.
“We can make some pretty ornate shapes that will also help church designers,” Perry says. “Where traditional crown molding is pretty labor intensive, we can make that piece and have it ready, and do more in the same time with less effort.”
BIM software advances
Victor Body-Lawson, president of New York architectural firm Body Lawson Associates, has designed dozens of churches and mixed-use developments revolving around the church. He notes that building information modeling software, such as Revit and Revit Architecture, have been game-changers for the industry.
“We have created libraries for Revit and other standards that help us work efficiently. In our libraries, we have details and specifications for windows, doors, wall sections, and more,” he explains. “These objects and assemblies in the libraries are then adapted by the project teams according to the needs of each situation and project.”
The power of 3D
3D printing is also influencing church design. With a smaller crew and more automation, a team can lower construction costs and shrink the timeline.
"With 3D modeling and printing, ecclesiastical designers can test models for good acoustics as well as visual inspiration, and then directly port those designs to the printer.”
Christine Spaulding, Marketing Manager, Geopolymer International, Las Vegas, NV
“From a design aspect, 3D printing gives architects more flexibility,” says Christine Spaulding, marketing manager for Geopolymer International, which provides 3D concrete printers to architects. “Some churches use curved shapes as inspirational design elements. With 3D modeling and printing, ecclesiastical designers can test models for good acoustics as well as visual inspiration, and then directly port those designs to the printer.”
Body-Lawson reports that he uses Rhino to develop 3D drawings and then migrate that work into Photoshop to develop 3D photorealistic renderings.
“Another benefit is that Rhino and Revit are integrated, giving us valuable cross-platform integration so that all our work in Rhino can be moved across platforms and into other design and construction workflows,” Body-Lawson says.
Augmented reality
Augmented reality is one of the things that is expected to be huge in design, both for churches and in general, since it will allow computer-generated images to be added on top of the real world—and then be viewed either through a phone like Pokemon Go or through AR glasses.
Thomas Jepsen, founder of Passion Plans in Raleigh, North Carolina, a company that connects people with architects, is currently working with a local start-up company that creates augmented reality software for building illustration.
“We’ve been working on designing and doing the interior decoration for a more progressive church in North Carolina where we’ve been using the software to help make sure that the execution of the building process aligns with the vision of the church,” he says. “It has allowed us to provide an entire simulated experience of the church before it’s even built.”
Morpholio Trace, an app developed for architects and graphic designers, has an augmented reality or AR feature that can be used on church site visits.
“Morpholio Trace is convenient to set up with vanishing points and perspective lines, all generated by using the AR program feature."
Victor Body-Lawson, Principal, Body Lawson Associates, New York, NY
“We can take photos of the existing church building or site, or add a new building, and use the application to create a new rendering,” Body-Lawson says. “Morpholio Trace is convenient to set up with vanishing points and perspective lines, all generated by using the AR program feature. I can also use it for pre-schematic design work that is later made into Revit and AutoCAD files.”
Tech tools
Church designers need to stay updated on the latest tech advancements, specifically in IT. Ensuring that IT and AV technologies integrate seamlessly will be an integral goal in fulfilling this mission. Moving forward, church designers will also have to keep flexibility in mind. The pandemic has shed a light on the importance of hybrid and virtual church services that could continue to be important even in a post-COVID world.
That’s why it’s important that church designers pay close attention to the size and area they are working with when outfitting a church with video tools.
“Some 4K webcams even offer electronic PTZ functionality, allowing the operator to digitally pan and zoom by streaming out a 1080p or 720p subset of the 4K capture.”
Paul Richards, Marketing Director, PTZOptics, Downingtown, PA
“For smaller churches, a simple auto-framing webcam that can be mounted on a laptop or desktop computer might do the trick,” explains Paul Richards, marketing director of PTZOptics and HuddleCamHD. “Some 4K webcams even offer electronic PTZ functionality, allowing the operator to digitally pan and zoom by streaming out a 1080p or 720p subset of the 4K capture.”
Larger spaces, he continues, should look for cameras with generous optical zoom and even power over Ethernet, which allows cameras to be powered and operated without long cable runs.
Many churches are replacing outdated projection technology with interior video walls, and church designers should consider this in their designs.
“Houses of worship were early adopters of projection screens as part of the worship experience, but have learned that costly bulb replacements and challenging lighting techniques are making this an outdated approach,” says Carol Wade, senior director of marketing at Watchfire Signs in Danville, Illinois. “Video walls are more affordable than ever and easy to install—they can even be portable, so it makes sense to evolve to this next-level technology. LED video walls also have significantly more brightness, making them easy to see and read whether in low light or under spotlights.”
With all the new tools and latest tech already on the market or soon to hit it, it can be a challenge for designers to keep up. And yet, church designers who integrate these new innovations into their workflows and designs will find themselves—and their clients—on the leading edge of worship space design.
