A shared vision
Pastor Mark was familiar with Life.Church and its numerous campus
locations. Through his research, he discovered that the partners of
Specialized Planning & Architecture for Church Environments [Space] —
Mark Allen and Thomas Small — were directly responsible for the design
and construction of most Life.Church campuses since 2005.
With 25 years of designing and building projects throughout the
country, Mark Allen joined the Life.Church team in Edmond, Okla.,
in 2005 to oversee the campus expansion vision. Due to the volume
of work, it was determined early on that an architectural partner was
needed. After interviewing several architects, Thomas Small, also
of Edmond, was chosen to partner in the Life.Church multi-campus
expansion plans.
After four years at Life.Church, Allen was routinely being asked by
visiting churches if he could help with their architecture and project
management needs. In response, he and Small created their firm, Space,
in 2009 to serve churches nationwide.
Though Pastor Mark and his team vetted several different church
architects, he says it was the Space team’s combination of architecture,
construction and ministry experience that made them the ideal fit for
Life Fellowship’s expansive project.
program is created and validated by the church will we begin the
architectural design process of developing the conceptual plan and
building renderings.”
For several months, Space collaborated continuously with
Pastor Mark to interpret his vision and translate that into an
architectural program and conceptual design. Budget is identified
in the programming stage, ensuring checkpoints are put in place
throughout the process to adhere to budget.
“It was a constant process of, ‘Let's make sure we get this right’ and
‘We might want to switch to this,’” Pastor Mark recalls.
To help him understand the overall design was consistent with
his vision, Space provided multiple views and versions of the design
through 3D renderings and computer-generated models, allowing
the project team to traverse the space and refine it. As a result,
Pastor Mark felt confident the end product would fulfill his vision of
creating a place for people to belong.
“I tried to put myself in the position of every person who would
visit the church,” Pastor Mark affirms. “I ‘walked through’ this
building probably 10,000 times before we ever broke ground.”
According to Space, this high level of communication and
coordination with the church is standard practice for their firm.
“They already had an understanding of what we needed,” he says.
“There's something about how things flow and move that's important
to a church but different than how a business might function.”
Even more important, Pastor Mark says he felt an extreme sense of
purpose, dedication and synergy with Space.
“As a pastor, you need to be able to verbalize your vision and what
needs to be accomplished — and not just have it inside your head,” he
says. “That means you need a great team around you.”
Having spent quite a while translating visions like Pastor Mark’s
into reality, the Space team (Allen and Small) understood what he
needed from them.
“Church leaders normally have a preconceived ‘vision’ of what they
want in their new project, but not all understand how that translates
to a conceptual plan which addresses their unique programming
requirements,” Small says. “Even before design begins, we’re very
diligent to work through a comprehensive architectural program
to ensure the project will meet the church’s needs. Only after that
“It’s only through this method that we’re able to achieve a highly
customized solution that matches the specific requirements for each
church,” they explain.
Bringing design priorities to life
The first design priority was making sure, from the outside in, that
the facility reflected the church's vision statements: Encounter God. Find
friends. Discover freedom. Make a difference.
“For example, I never wanted a parking lot behind the church,
because people are scared to come to something new — they don't
know what to expect,” Pastor Mark points out. “I wanted everyone to
see what we're doing, even from the parking lot. Nothing is hidden;
there are no hidden agendas.”
The Space team knew exactly how to create that transparent,
welcoming environment. Every light post on campus bears a
“Welcome home” sign. A 20-by-10-foot, double-sided LED sign near
the road displays messages of encouragement day and night. “We
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