Floor Plans & Layout discussion

Here are additional designs from Steve: drive.google.com/file/d/0B-cPon_fJTSXTmtPYk5zU0NYUUlPdFB2bFhyMmM5V0NJQ2Nn/view?usp=sharing


And comments:



"My only concern it that there does not seem to be enough space for mingling around the refreshment area. Is there a way to make a table are right next to the kitchen?"

- The seating arrangement was meant to show the maximum number of chairs since Dave cares about that a lot. In reality we don’t need the 300 or more chairs most of the time and would remove chairs in that vicinity to have more room to mingle. I will show a modified option.





"rather than adding a big counter in the kitchen area, it might make more sense to use that space for most of the tables? Make that section the hospitality area, which is already sort of naturally separated, and would allow more space"




"Do we have any design ideas for possibly putting the stage in the back corner?

If the chairs fan out around it to form almost a square, then the rest of the room by the kitchen can be a fellowship area?"

-"My concern with that was that we would be trying to do too much on that side of the room. The north side of the room is the natural place for a kitchen and café with all the utilities located there and windows off to the side. It would have too much congestion on that side of the room and block access to the service window which is useful for picking up food or returning dirty dishes if we use the room for banquets, weddings. Ditto for NE corner plus windows are there. SW corner is close to door. SE corner might have potential. One thing to keep in mind with any corner stage in this shape of room is that it will require more rows and people will be farther away from the stage. But let’s look at it."





Here are some things to consider with this design:



This design requires 2 projectors and screens- This is a significant cost for a limited budget.



I recently visited a new space with a very similar size and layout as you proposed. Of course their budget was vastly larger than ours, but dimensions were fairly similar. They had one large screen that worked very well for their space and even though they could afford the 2 screens chose 1- I think it was a good choice on their behalf. With 14' ceilings, this is very doable for us and I think the overall presentation will keep the focus on the center of the room. The larger screen will allow good viewing from all angles.

I agree with you Lauren about the flow of people entering & getting to the Hospitality area, as well as minimizing disruptions from people arriving late, being best with the stage where it currently is (but a different size).  It also seems like that setup would be best at providing a quieter, more separate place for after-service prayer.  I haven't seen any detailed diagrams of that model though. I made this one up in Paint. It is mostly to scale (8.35 pixels is 1 foot) Is this what you have in mind? My drawings aren't awesome like some people's. But it helps me to have a visual.


drive.google.com/file/d/0BwcJ7TgJIyiyUkNnaHIzeERERlU/view?usp=sharing

Corissa, yes! Your diagram is exactly what I was picturing and would love to have!

Here is my most artistic Paint representation yet! The stage in the SE corner. This has the distinct benefit of keeping the Hospitality stuff well separated from the stage. The unfortunate drawbacks are:
(1) Prayer is near the entry/exit to the sanctuary
(2) There is no space for a Nursing Mom's area in the sanctuary, and trying to put it in the conference room in this design would also be awkward because the door to the conference room is right next to the stage.

drive.google.com/file/d/0BwcJ7TgJIyiyVGc4NFU0UW10VEk/view?usp=sharing

I'm moving a conversation from a different thread here in an effort to keep it all in one place. At a glance it seems like it's a conversation about hospitality, but really it comes back to what our floor plan is going to look like. I'm of the opinion that we REALLY REALLY NEED TO DECIDE ON A FLOOR PLAN (I.E. STAGE LOCATION) ASAP

Lauren
I'm kind of confused because from what I've gathered so far, the biggest concern with leaving the stage where it is, is that the space behind it will not be usable. I thought it seemed like perfect built-in storage space, with the only issue being the expense of a curtain to hide it from sight. Can someone comment on that?

Nathan
The reason for moving the stage is for access to the kitchen area in a way that will not disrupt the service- that includes disrupting ministry time. It is also in response to an expressed desire to have a cafe type feel, which requires the mechanical hook-ups only available in that location.

If hospitality continues as it currently operates, is it possible to accomplish those things and keep the stage on the north wall? Keep in mind that the stage must be aesthetically pleasing and large enough.

Lauren
As much as possible, I prefer hospitality tasks to take place before or after the service, not during. The idea is that it allows hospitality volunteers to fully participate in the whole service, doesn't distract others during the service, and sets a boundary between service time and fellowship time. That said... I'm well aware that there often ARE people doing hospitality things during the service, which could not continue with a north wall stage. I'll check in with the hospitality volunteers to get their feedback about what they need.

Can you clarify what you mean by mechanical hookups for a cafe type feel? What would we lose by having hospitality on the west wall vs north wall?

Nathan
What I meant by mechanical hookups- Water, Gas, and Electric.

Anita
It sounds like we need some time to envision what we hope the hospitality area will develop into...not only now, but in the future.
I am also eager for the hospitality team to now work during the service, and for the refreshments to be closed during the service. However, I think one of our strengths as a church lies in the area of hospitality and we can have all kinds of events around a cafe, including pre- and post service. In Duluth they operate a coffee bar that pays for the free coffee they serve on the side. Food also has a minimal cost to it and is served from behind the food counter like you would find in Starbucks. This prevents the waste of food we sometime see here. (Newcomers get a coupon for a free drink.

With the college close by we have the opportunity to serve coffee and food during final weeks etc.
I know that we are limited now by finances, but I do think we can dream about making this a very enticing place to be and hang out...meet people.
Bryan, our barista, is checking on what it would take to have a functional coffee bar and is willing to help train. But we can also have a Keurig machine where people can make their own quality coffee and put a dollar in a money box. That does not require extra labor.

The north wall is the logical place to locate a kitchen and refreshments since it has the utilities there. There was talk about adding a starbucks like food counter. The glass windows are a nice place to congregate. The idea was to dedicate that side of the room for those functions. If the stage was located there it would be too crowded having all the functions on one side of the room. The first idea that people were talking about was to place the stage on the west wall. However, before making a decision there was a need to see if the seating would actually work. I did some preliminary seating arrangements to help out with that. Seating will work with the stage in that direction, however, as currently drawn it has a few problems. I am going to take another approach tomorrow to hopefully address many of those issues. More recently Anita saw something at another Vineyard and asked to see an arrangement with the stage in the SE corner. At first I was skeptical, but it is turning into a very nice layout. I made a number improvements to what was posted yesterday. Please look for the July 1 version that will be posted soon. The SE corner layout is fairly well resolved now. The west wall needs more work and will have a better plan in the next day or two. I am skeptical about the north wall, but if there is an idea that seems to have merit I would be willing to also take a look at it. I will post my comments on both the west and SE corner layouts when I post the revised west wall layout.

I wanted add something to what I said last night. We realized the concern that people will not be able to enter at the rear with the stage on the west wall. A number of people had the idea of entering off the parking lot but that would require a vestibule to make it workable which would be costly. Also the door off the corridor was originally planned to be relocated to align with the corridor to partially alleviate this concern. That is much less costly than a vestibule, but was left off for now for cost reasons. A proposed or alternate door location can be shown on future versions of the plan. None of the room arrangements are perfect. Just like the north wall has its problems. I will take at least a quick look at the north wall idea of introducing a dividing wall.