Is your church ready to begin an alternate worship style venue? Could your church use an extra fellowship hall? What about more space for the youth group? Do you need room to start an outreach program for community seniors? If you are asking these questions and others, then it is time to consider a well-designed multipurpose room.

No matter what you call them—multipurpose buildings, family life centers, activity centers, or sanctanasiums—these increasingly popular flexible spaces are as likely to be found on a 400-member church campus as on a mega-church campus. Churches of all sizes are finding them a less expensive and more versatile alternative to traditional space.

So what's behind the rising popularity of this building type?

"It's all about their economy and versatility," said Dwight Teter, chairman and chief executive officer of Mantel Teter Architects in Kansas City, Missouri.

Teter claims that many growing churches are using a multipurpose facility as a stepping stone before investing in their ideal worship center. Building a multipurpose facility first allows the church to raise capital funds while accommodating rapid growth.

What Is This Multipurpose Room?
Simply put, it's a room that must be all things to all people that use it for all types of ministry. That shouldn't be too difficult! Since the space will likely need to accommodate recreation, a higher ceiling should be considered. Regulation-sized gymnasiums need at least 22 to 24 feet of clear height for a ceiling. This allows for activities to be played such as basketball and volleyball. Ceilings are higher to accommodate other needs, such as staging, clean sightlines, and dramatic or musical presentations.

In a traditional sanctuary, you can't remove the pews or theater seats to set up a basketball court or tables for fellowship dining, but the usual limits don't apply to multipurpose facilities. A family life center can quickly be transformed from recreational to educational space by hiding sports equipment and setting up chairs and tables. Such flexibility enables churches to host their current ministries, while simultaneously expanding into new areas.

Of course, not all multipurpose buildings are intended to be used as a gym. Even without a higher ceiling, these buildings can be used for a variety of events, such as receptions, seminars, and even an interim worship space or permanent worship venue spot.

Flexibility of Space
Since churches' needs often outweigh their budgets, creativity is a must. Classroom spaces are designed to become much larger and are often able to be subdivided using operable partitions that glide in a track system suspended from the ceiling. They offer excellent acoustics with seals at the floor and ceiling and can withstand much abuse. While these dividers are a trendier, more expensive option than metal studs or drywall, they provide maximum flexibility of space.

But it doesn't stop in the classroom; worship space has become more flexible as well. Some churches use moveable chairs in lieu of fixed pews or theater seats, and platforms are made to be extremely flexible with minimal fixed-in-place items. Many first-phase church buildings begin in a multipurpose building that facilitates worship, fellowship dining, and recreation all under one roof and in the same space.

"Multipurpose facilities have significant challenges in the areas of acoustics and lighting," said Teter. "It's extremely difficult to balance the acoustics in any large open space, especially one with four parallel walls!"

Often, sound problems can be treated with acoustical tiles or sound-absorbing panels, but these solutions should be designed during the initial design stages with the architect and not as a "fix" after the facility is built.

There are also lighting challenges. For a recreation area, the preferred lighting might include high intensity fixtures, which are very bright. However, the same space may be used for multimedia presentations, which requires darkness, or at least control over lighting. If the space is also used for fellowship dining, then a softer, more incandescent light should be used. Dimming features are generally desired to enhance the flexibility of the space.

Room With Purpose
While traditional sanctuary and education space is in great demand on the weekends and maybe one other day a week, multipurpose spaces are used all week long. This type of space, if creatively designed, can offer some of the most significant space in which to do ministry. The multipurpose room can be viewed as a community center of sorts. It accommodates so many user groups, including many groups outside the church membership. What an awesome outreach tool for ministry!

Four areas of benefit to this type of building are:

1. Economy: Minimum cost for maximum space
2. Utilization: The space can be used all week for many different ministry needs
3. Outreach: The relaxed atmosphere of the multipurpose facility often appeals to the unchurched
4. Relationship building: The facility can be used for community events

The only thing a multipurpose building can't offer is tradition. The multipurpose facility will have a different look, depending upon its use at that time, and some church members may need to adjust to this change.

In fact, church seekers are not looking for the traditional buildings. Baby boomers and, to a larger degree, Gen-Xers feel that the external reflects the internal. New looks and flexibility say, "We care, and we are fluid in meeting the needs of others. Status-quo scares seekers." In a culture that seeks belonging and place, the multipurpose building has the opportunity to create a non-threatening environment where one or two can connect and feel a sense of community.

"The letters and phone calls to our office from our clients tell us that the flexibility of this type of building lends itself to so many activities that it's not unusual for the building to be reserved by various groups far in advance; in fact, they're all church members!" said Teter.

This is truly the Master's plan and the type of situation churches envision when they build a multipurpose facility; their aim is to create cost-effective space that's used often by both members and the community.

David Evans, AIA, is the president of Mantel Teter Architects, www.mantelteter.com , which specializes in the planning and design of religious, educational, and commercial developments.

Sidebar
Advantages of Operable Walls & Accordion Doors
By Tom Carney

Operable walls and folding accordion doors offer cost-effective solutions to space utilization within any church building. Large fellowship halls can become smaller classrooms. Multipurpose rooms or large conference rooms can be converted into smaller individual offices. Space management provides a versatile alternative to expensive building additions or renovations. Investigate re-allocating the space you already have available in your church. You may find classrooms, sanctuaries, private meeting or prayer areas, or banquet halls becoming a part of your facilities layout.

What can they do for me?
It's all about flexibility. When you have a large room and need multiple smaller ones, simply extend the accordion door or operable wall to fit your need. When your fellowship hall has been used as smaller classrooms, and you need a large open area to conduct a luncheon or meeting, simply retract the product into its stored position.

What types of products are these?
The most commonly used products are sight-dividing accordion doors, acoustically rated accordion doors, and acoustically rated flat-panel operable wall partitions. Accordions are lightweight, easily moved manually, and inexpensive, but they won't stop sound. Acoustically rated accordion doors are still easily moved and slightly more expensive, due to the added materials needed for sound deadening purposes. Acoustically rated operable wall partitions are typically between 42" to 48" wide and as tall as your ceiling, yet they move easily by way of a top-supported track system. In this way, your facility manager is not the only person who would be able to extend and retract these panels when the need arises.

How do these products look in my building?
All products come in a choice of colors for washable vinyl or a nice color selection of vertically ribbed carpet. Carpet finishes are particularly attractive on accordion doors, and most users of that product report a noticeable difference in sound dampening when they are extended across their room. The accordion door hardware is visually attractive and functional. The typically more expensive flat panel operable walls come in standard vinyl, vertically ribbed carpet, woven fabrics and even wood veneers. There is sure to be a color, texture, or pattern scheme that blends with the other finishes in your church. Chalkboards, dry erase marker boards, and bulletin boards are available to add function to the acoustical room separation. Wheelchair-accessible pass through doors are available, so you move from one room to another when the panels are extended.

How do I know the product will fit my building?
All accordion doors and operable walls are manufactured to your building's exact dimensions. The supplier comes to your church and physically measures the overall opening width and height. This information is furnished to the manufacturer, who builds the product just for your needs. You can even have accordion doors made to fit around curves.

What does acoustically rated mean?
Without exploring all the technical explanations, these products are designed, engineered and installed to provide varying degrees of sound control. There is no product that is completely soundproof, but there are products that can offer reasonable amounts of stopping ability that will either be suitable for speech privacy on the low end or amplified sound privacy at the high end. Accordion doors are usually suitable for fellowship halls where some speech privacy is needed. Operable wall panels, when installed correctly, can offer appreciable amplified sound privacy for use in rooms using A/V presentations or perhaps a microphone for a guest speaker.

What should we look for in a manufacturer?
The better manufacturers will have a customer service department available to help individual churches explore the options and then help with installation service. Some manufacturers sell direct to churches or offer some form of individual attention to customers of religious facilities. Call the manufacturer for details.

Accordion doors and operable walls can be great products to use in churches because they offer the opportunity to make the most of the space you have. Instead of putting on an addition, churches can take current space and transform it into classrooms, sanctuaries, private meeting areas, banquet halls, or prayer meeting areas.

Tom Carney is president of Curtition, www.curtition.com .