Building Team Update:

The Building Team has chosen the Floor Plan designs for the Worship/Education Building. The architect is continuing with design development on this plan. We are waiting for an updated cost analysis on the revised plan.

The Master Plan is continuing through the Town of Chapel Hill Special Use Permit approval process. Members of the Building Team will be meeting with the Town’s various department heads on May 10th. It is at this meeting that the church will receive official comments about the plan from each of the review boards. The Building Team will work with the Civil Engineer and our Architect to craft responses to those comments.

Main Level:

The first element you will see from MLK Blvd./Homestead Road is the Gathering Pavilion with porches that mirror the existing Fellowship Hall Building porches and that open out to courtyard space at the front of the new building. The Gathering Pavilion is 1,761 sq.ft. The scale of the Gathering Pavilion was chosen in an attempt to maintain continuity between the much larger new sanctuary and the existing buildings. The Gathering Pavilion will be topped with a lantern/steeple architectural element that will allow natural light to fill the space during the day and that will be softly illuminated at night to serve as a worship beacon. It will copy elements from the existing steeple and window shapes.

There is a transition Vestibule space between the Gathering Pavilion and the Narthex that leads to the actual Congregation/Worship space. The Vestibule area includes restrooms as well as stair and elevator access to the lower level Education space. The transition area allows for better control of both traffic and noise between the “fellowship” spaces and the “worship” space.

The Sanctuary, at more than 6,000 sq. ft., will seat 600 (85 choir and 515 congregation). Windows at the rear of the congregational seating will allow natural light and views to exterior garden space that won’t interfere with worship elements in the Chancel area. The congregational seating design was chosen to make a large space feel much more intimate. There are soaring spaces and intimate nooks within the Sanctuary. So, depending upon where you sit, you may have a different kind of overall “worship experience”. The Baptismal font has been located intentionally at the rear of the Sanctuary so that it will be the first thing you see when you enter and the last thing you see as you exit. The Chancel area has been designed to allow for flexibility of worship styles and worship elements. There is a central pulpit from which both Scripture and the Message will be spoken. There is a back stairway that leads to the lower level Education space that includes the Choir Dressing Room.

Lower Level:

The lower level includes Nursery and Education space as well as a room for the choir to robe and then take the interior stairs or elevator to the Main Level so that the choir may process to the Chancel area for worship. Restrooms are located near the choir room for convenience as the choir room may be used as a dressing room for other events and performances as well. The location near the elevator also makes these restrooms more accessible to people on the Main Level if the Main Level restrooms are full.

In addition to the developmentally defined Nursery rooms on the Lower Level, there are 2 Sunday school classrooms, designed for children, ages 3 – 5 years. Storage closets have been located wherever possible and in relation to the various classrooms. There is an auditorium-type Meeting Room (1,251 sq. ft.) that can be divided down the middle for 2 smaller groups, if desired. The purpose of the Meeting Room is to be able to serve any age group as population and programming warrants. More age-defined Education Space will be created in the future as the rest of the Master Plan is completed. The Crawl Space that is shown is just that, “crawl space.” It will be good for mechanicals, but not for storage.

Hut Expansion Update

The Building Team continues to work with the city of Chapel Hill on our building plans. Learn more about our Hut Expansion in this update.