Tilt-Up Treasure
As published in Worship Facilities, Apr/May 2005
How one Southern church made the switch from portable ministry to concrete facility with measurable success.
For about 18 years, New Horizon Church in Durham, North Carolina, was a church on wheels, meeting in a home, or a gymnasium, or wherever else the contemporary, non-denominational congregation could find a suitable meeting place. "We used an old Ryder box truck with a trailer behind it, and we went into a gym at 6:00 a.m. to set up our live band for worship at 7:30," recalls Kevin Willis, New Horizon's facility manager, of his church's most recent portable set up.
And while New Horizon always had a reasonably strong following despite the fact that it had no permanent physical structure, Willis says the church's congregation grew rapidly in its last six years of worship in the gym. So during that time, staff began casting a vision for a permanent church home and started campaigning for Phase I of construction. "In 1997, our church had about 140 regular attendees," Willis says. "We had more than 500 by the time we moved out of that gym in April of 2004."
Building a Home Base
New Horizon's staff and congregation planned and budgeted for a $6-million facility and chose a tilt-up construction method. As Willis explains, the concrete walls were pre-formed by general contractor Centurion Construction of Raleigh, North Carolina, then brought to the site and laid out on the ground with the windows and doors all carved out. Then the walls were simply lifted up on their edges and put into place. "And it looks just beautiful," Willis adds. Leah Rade, New Horizon's church operations director, says the building method was also economical. "[Tilt-up construction] was a wise use of money for us. It provides good insulation and it's energy efficient – our electrical bills are very reasonable," Rade says.
Centurion Construction's president, Greg Heffner, sheds some light on why tilt-up construction is often a good bet – and an economical choice – for church facilities. "Tilt-up construction is particularly good for buildings with high ceilings, like sanctuaries, where conventional wall systems are so expensive when the ceilings need to be so high," Heffner says. Rade explains that even though tilt-up construction uses concrete wall structures, finished, painted panels are used to match the drywall areas of the interior of the building. So while New Horizon gained cost efficiency, it didn't forgo the interior beauty of traditional wood-framed construction.
For flooring, New Horizon's staff chose surfaces much like conventional commercial buildings. As Rade says, "The atrium [or lobby] is stained concrete, then we have carpet squares in the auditorium which are great for multi-purpose in case there's a coffee stain. The rest of the facility is carpeted, and we have tile in the bathrooms."
There's one matter that both Willis and Rade say they wish they'd addressed for their facility and didn't: an elevator. "We need this for the handicapped," Willis says. Heffner is quick to point out that New Horizon's staff used foresight to implement many important systems upfront. For example, in New Horizon's 5,000-square-foot lobby area Heffner says that tilt-up construction worked particularly well. "It made the lobby both cost-effective to build and to maintain," Heffner says. And he adds that New Horizon chose an electric radiant floor system for under the lobby floor to comfortably and cost-effectively heat the area for its congregation.
In addition, Heffner says the New Horizon facility possesses a unique fire protection system with concrete panels that separate its classroom, lobby, worship area, and sanctuary. The facility actually has permits for four separate building types which do not require a sprinkler system.
100 Horizon Place
Today, New Horizon Church sits proudly at its 52-acre physical address where it opened its doors about a year ago. According to Rade, the 40,000-square-foot-plus facility is non-intimidating and doesn't look a traditional church from the outside. Willis concurs, describing the facility's exterior as a cross between a school and a commercial building. "It actually looks like a cultural arts center with a glass atrium on the front," Rade muses. And both Rade and Willis say that New Horizon's mission and its facility remain geared toward a style of worship that's relevant to today's culture.
As such, Willis says New Horizon's main demographic – both now and in its portable days – is families with roughly 36-year-old heads of household. Yet he's quick to point out that New Horizon has members and attendees from all ages. Willis believes that his church's worship style and feel, as well as today's New Horizon physical church structure, works well in catering to the demographic base. "New Horizon has always been relevant, contemporary, flexible. And we have the same flexibility today [in our facility]," Willis says.
Case in point, Willis points to New Horizon's worship hall, which doubles as a gathering space for special events for the church and the community at large. The worship area seats 950 – with seating that is completely portable – and contains a big stage at the front with curtains and hardwood flooring. On Halloween of 2004, New Horizon removed the seating and hosted a Boo Bash battle of the bands for its community. Other alternative uses of the facility have included the hosting of an extreme dodge ball competition, Willis reports.
Wired for Success
In keeping with New Horizon's mission to be relevant within today's culture, its facility is technologically wired to make the most of advancing technologies. For reasons of security, youth ministry, and just plain old fun, the New Horizon staff included high-tech computer systems as part of the building plan from the start. As Willis says, "Our whole building is networked. We use technology to [further] our mission."
For example, New Horizon employs video surveillance to keep its property safe overall. Willis also points out that safety is very important for parents who leave their children at church programs while they attend functions in other areas of the facility. "[Parents] can even see their kids in the rooms from the lobby. Everything is recorded on a hard drive," Willis says.
For internal purposes, New Horizon uses a magnetic key card system instead of distributing keys to its staff. "The key card system locks people in and out so there are no loose keys out there," Willis reports.
For its youth program, as a way to give teens something to do on Friday nights, New Horizon offers a youth room stocked with eight Microsoft Xbox game stations and PlayStation game consoles, along with pool, ping pong and other less high-tech diversions. "We also have a Dish Network in the works for youth movie nights," adds Willis. Willis says New Horizon's pastors join in the fun as well. "The pastors like to link Xbox and do game night in the office. We have Halo [video game] on Xbox," he confesses.
With so much going on at 100 Horizon Place, what does Willis see for New Horizon's future? Growth, and more of it. He reports that New Horizon grew from approximately 550 members to more than 800 in nine months after moving to its new facility.
As Willis says, "I've heard people say, 'You're not a real church until you have a building.' It does make a difference to have an actual physical structure."
SIDEBAR
Growing Pains and Pleasures
Since opening doors to its permanent facility in Durham, North Carolina, in 2004, New Horizon Church has grown by leaps and bounds. But as with all growth, the rapid change calls for quick adjustments for both staff and the physical facility itself. "Since we've gone from being a portable church to having this facility, the transitions have been difficult for people," says Leah Rade, New Horizon's church operations director. "Now we don't need the huge teams of people to build up and tear down [a portable stage] each week for worship, so we have to find other ways to incorporate people's time and talents toward the ministry."
And then there are the sheer growing numbers of church members – a blessing and a challenge for the physical accommodations of the new facility. "We have grown about 400 percent since we got into the building. We now have more than 800 attendees and expect to have about 1,200 within a year," says Kevin Willis, facility manager for New Horizon.
So New Horizon staff is currently campaigning for Phase II which will help encompass its growing children's ministry. "Our kids are outgrowing their space," Willis confirms. "In our program for parents and kids between services, we're already using tents out on the property."
Willis adds that New Horizon is also making plans for Phase III, which will include expanded parking areas. As the congregation grows, there are more and more cars coming into the lot. The amount of people needed to serve in the ministry is growing too, meaning that more cars must park in the lot for extended periods of time.
QUICK-LINKS
Centurion Construction
Phone: (919) 787-0924
URL: www.centurionconstruction.com
Microsoft
Product: Xbox game consoles, Halo video game
Phone: (800) 642-7676
URL: www.xbox.com
New Horizon Church
Phone: (919) 471-6443
URL: www.nhc-online.com
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Product: PlayStation game consoles
Phone: (800) 345-7669
URL: www.playstation.com
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