Posts Tagged ‘adaptable’

Green Solution: Former Warehouse Becomes Elegant Event Venue

Posted in Adaptive Reuse, Green Building, architecture, renovation on June 8th, 2009 by Joel Van Dyke – 1 Comment

 

Original warehouse structure before renovations began.
Original warehouse structure before renovations began.

dsc_0341-straightened-for-webLong before the creation of the Greenville Drive stadium and the city’s streetscape improvements to South Main Street (then Pendleton Street), Jeff Renow purchased the dilapidated warehouse at 924 S. Main Street with a vision for what the building could become. Jeff contacted me in 2005 to come and look at the building and discuss his vision for the space.  Dark, damp, and cold, the building required quite a bit of imagination to picture what it would become.  It was great to have a client like Jeff, who could envision the transformation and get excited about ideas when they were not much more that squiggly sketches on tracing paper. dsc_0362-edited-sm-web3

 

Fast forward four years and enter the world of Zen, Greenville’s newest event venue that has taken the town by a storm.  The once dingy space is now filled with light and warmth and is at the same time industrial chic and pure elegance. Working with Jeff was great because he rarely settled for the easy solution to a problem, but rather went for the solution that would be best in the long run and supported the aesthetic goals of the project. Owner of The Painted House, a specialty finish company, Jeff is a very “hands on” guy and did much of the work, especially the finish work himself and with his own crew.

zen-090601-16-low-res1The idea for “Zen” evolved as the design came together.  Initially the space was intended to be a wine bar and art gallery but the need for a different type of event space became clear as the project progressed, so Jeff shifted his focus to filling this niche.  The building offers a variety of spaces supported by a fully equipped commercial kitchen. 

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Another fun part of the project is the creation of a garden area that will be available for events, as well.  I have always enjoyed landscape design and the opportunity to work with Jeff to create a garden space that would support the “Zen” idea was really a joy.

What made the project even more exciting is the green impact that the project would have.  By renovating the warehouse rather than razing the site, used building materials were kept out of the landfill. Additionally, bricks that were removed to add daylight to the interior, were cleaned up and used to pave an new walkway and terrace area on the site. The project also contributed to the revitalization of an area of the city that was under-utilized and had fallen into disrepair but is no a vibrant neighborhood.

 

Marketing the Church?

Posted in architecture, church, church design on March 9th, 2009 by Joel Van Dyke – 8 Comments
St. Michaels Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC Photo by the Author

St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC Photo by the Author

Many Christians when asked, “What is your church’s brand?” would take offense at the thought of “branding” or marketing their church. But, whether we want to admit it or not, your church has a brand. Hang in there with me for a minute and see if you agree…

If you define a brand as the sum of the experiences, expectations, and personality associated with a company, person, or service, your church does have a brand. The bottom line is that your brand is really about who you are. What is unique about your congregation? What ministries are you, as a church, involved in? What is your mission, as a church, and how are you working to achieve it? This is your brand.

If you fail to communicate who you are (your brand) to the public in an effective way, you are losing the power that your brand can bring you. In years past, a denominational association was enough to tell people what “kind” of church you were.  Today, denominational “brands” have lost much of their significance because there is such a wide variety of church “personalities” and even beliefs within a given denomination.

Whether you agree with them or not, some of the large “community” churches have done a very good job of creating an identity and communicating that identity to the world. One of the ways that their brand identity is often reinforced is through the design of their facilities.  Now, I will be the first to say that a church is not the building, but the buildings do communicate something about the particular church. 

This aspect of branding has proven to be problematic for some older churches that have transformed themselves over time, but still function in buildings that were designed to accommodate a different kind of worship or education.  They find themselves adapting their programs to their buildings; buildings that do not reinforce their brand identity. In some cases, adapting church buildings is an option, but more often than not, the buildings, to some degree, constrain the church’s identity.

It is very difficult to know what a particular church is going to “look like” in twenty or thirty years, therefore, designing buildings that are flexible and adaptable is crucial to facilitating the growth of the church.  In many churches, Sunday school programs look very different today than they did twenty-five years ago, and as a result, the use of some older buildings has become inefficient and cumbersome.

If you are in the process of planning new facilities, ask yourself these questions: “Do our facilities reflect who we are as a church?”, “How adaptable are our buildings going to be if we change the way we are doing things?” and “How expensive is it going to be to make the buildings adapt to change?”  As they say, change is one thing you can count on. Are you planning for it?

For additional thoughts on how your space reflects your brand, check out Chad McMillan’s post on Business Black Box at http://www.insideblackbox.com/?p=797