Senior Year, Judson University
Essential Diagramatic Design
With a more complete understanding of design, perception, and impact, we were tasked with designing a church in an existing lot next to the only local casino.
- a proposal for: Hope Culture Community Church
- Along the Fox River in Elgin, IL, is the Grand Victoria Casino. Sitting right at the edge of the city center, this casino has a park and promenade on one side, apartments running the length of it, and a strip mall just beyond it. In that strip mall's always-empty lot, we were tasked with designing the church-home for the local Hope Culture Church. Here, you'll see I've designed the parking situation to be safer, slower for church drop-off, and more pedestrian friendly for the pedestrians coming in from the east (the right). I've also arranged for the casino to be out of direct view, the winter winds to meet a brick face, and the summer winds to meet a predominantly glass facade.
- With churches, the primary focuses are people and light. I sought to design a space that was easily navigable and well and naturally lit. Above, you'll see lighting diagrams showing morning and evening sun in plan, and noon summer and noon winter sun in section. You'll also find a fluid movement diagram in red (note: the cafe and office areas are designed to be sectionally closed off or open to the rest of the church, their movements are primarily contained within their spaces) and a life-safety diagram in green.
- In plan, the church is organized around the central worship spaces, and it uses its main movement paths as the primary gathering spaces outside of the worship space—with the lobby providing space for Sunday services, the gym providing space for the teenagers, and the curved hall providing a pocket of space for the children.