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Four Oaks Community Church

As published in Worship Facilities, May/Jun 2010

Humans demand accessibility, so it only makes sense for the church of 2010 to tap into that need and go the extra mile to meet people where they are. Three years ago, Four Oaks Community Church of Tallahassee, Fla., saw just that kind of potential in a 60,000-square-foot retail strip mall.

For three years, Four Oaks worshipped in a high school. Plans for a permanent home came and went, but roots were never put down. “We were spending a lot of money renting space, a lot of energy setting up and tearing down, we were cramped and had no visibility as a church in the high school,” says Paul Gilbert, pastor of ministry development at Four Oaks. “We want to launch other campuses over the next 18 months, so strategically, we needed a home base.”

Confident about a multi-site future, Four Oaks purchased the strip mall and made plans to convert the former Food Lion (29,000 square feet) and adjacent Dollar General (9,000 square feet) portions into a permanent home, while continuing to lease the remaining square footage to local tenants.

Jim Tomberlin, founder and senior strategist with MultiSite Solutions of Scottsdale, Ariz., has coached Four Oaks in its move toward multi-site, saying it’s a viable option for any healthy, growing church. “Multi-site has put the ‘local’ back in the local church by taking church to places Jesus would go, like schools, theaters and retail centers.”

“It was accessible, faster and more affordable than making a land purchase and building, and environmentally responsible—the structure was already there,” says Gilbert.

Church member Richard Crowe, AIA, founding partner and principal of Tallahassee’s Gilchrist, Ross, Crowe Architects, was asked to redesign the retail space, while Les Stephenson, church member and president of Music Masters in Tallahassee, oversaw the audio, video and lighting aspects of the project. Finally, Peter R. Brown Construction Inc., a nationwide company owned by another church member, John Stewart, stepped in as the builder and construction manager.

The decision to renovate existing space ended up saving the team a lot of time and money. “Existing retail space requires no new zoning, permits or site work,” says Nolan Raybon, project manager with the Tallahassee branch of Peter R. Brown Construction. “The parking spaces were already there. The whole project was ‘grandfathered in.’”

Four Oaks made a down payment on the $5-million space using funds from a previous building project endeavor and chose to borrow approximately $5.1 million to finish paying for the space and finance the $6-million renovation. With the help of Brad Leeper at Generis, a stewardship consulting firm based in Atlanta, Four Oaks has raised $3.8 million through congregational pledges and offerings, all of which has paid down the loan.

“[The capital campaign] was not a huge public effort, it was more grass roots. Overall, there was a high degree of ownership and involvement,” says Gilbert. “In spite of the economy, people were extraordinarily generous, even though many people today have little to give above their regular tithing.”

Operation renovation

The existing brick façade was left in place. “We wanted the design to reflect the character of the residential neighborhood,” says Gilbert. “We wanted to draw people in.”

To soften the commercial lines, Crowe added a covered drop off made from angular white metal. Beneath it is a trellis-covered seating area where the church planted four oak trees, three on one side and one standing alone, a symbol of the church and its beliefs.

The brick exterior is broken up with storefront glass to provide a modern, transparent feel.

Above the front façade is the towering roofline of the sanctuary and a single cross. “The sanctuary mass creates a new form which serves as a physical sign that this is now a church,” says Crowe.

Behind the brick and glass is a 3,000-square-foot gathering area. Exposed ceiling systems, a fireplace, abundant seating, artwork, a coffee bar and bookstore, and a multi-patterned, diagonally laid porcelain tile give the space a “warm warehouse vibe” according to Crowe.

The coffee bar and bookstore are currently run by volunteers, but Four Oaks hopes to turn it into a [fully staffed] third place in the future. “That would give the public a whole new level of accessibility, especially since we’re already in a shopping center,” says Gilbert.

A vestibule precedes the sanctuary and serves as a sound and light barrier. The sanctuary is a 90-foot by 90-foot square surrounded by a corridor lined with 13 classrooms. The 1,000-seat space sits on a flat, carpet-tiled floor, while a wrap-around balcony seats an additional 300. The painted concrete-block walls are covered with Tectum board and reach up to meet the new 55-foot ceiling. “The existing roof had to be removed completely because it was so low,” says Crowe.

That wasn’t an easy task, as suites on either side of the Food Lion were occupied with paying tenants. “We had to build the new roof on top of the original one and cut a hole to lower the new structure into place,” says Nick Faurote, senior project manager with Peter R. Brown Construction. “We also added four inches of insulation and had to do some structural remediation on shared walls, which called for a lot of coordination with tenants.”

The higher ceiling also introduced new challenges in the area of lighting. Stephenson first considered suspended truss lighting for the space, but knew it wasn’t a volunteer-friendly solution. Eventually, he decided to install SkyDeck, a wire grid truss product from InterAmerica Stage Inc., in Orlando, Fla.

“It’s a catwalk I saw at a tradeshow,” says Stephenson, who also designed the portable projection and speaker system Four Oaks used in the high school. “I knew we could modify the design to meet our needs.”

The classrooms surrounding the sanctuary are all permanently themed and accommodate children from birth through fifth grade. A special needs classroom and two A/V/L-outfitted praise and worship theaters are also included. All of the classrooms are carpeted with product from Lees Grab Bags, which are essentially collections of carpet remnants that can be laid in the same manner as carpet tile.

“For $2 per square foot we achieved a colorful and unique design in each classroom, and we can easily replace stained areas,” says Crowe.

The Dollar General space was transformed to house student ministries and administrative space. The youth area has its own exterior entrance, but can also be accessed from the main lobby. The first area entered is a party lounge with coffee bar, bar seating and flat screen television.

Next is the large meeting room, which boasts an exposed ceiling, stage and a loft game room complete with pool tables. Friday night concerts call for sophisticated sound, achieved with a system built around a 32-channel mixing console that can be run live or operator-free.

“The idea behind all the materials chosen was durability,” says Faurote. “Concrete floors and concrete block are nearly indestructible.”

While Four Oaks didn’t seek LEED-certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design as offered by Washington, D.C.’s U.S. Green Building Council), Crowe is confident the building could have risen to the task.

“Choosing an existing structure meant no new footprint,” says Crowe. “We also chose recycled materials, like the grab bag carpeting, which really cut costs.”

According to Raybon, the added rooftop insulation will reduce heating and cooling costs, as well, and an A-frame shape makes the roof ideal for installation of solar panels.

Slipping into the future

The same front-of-house system used in the high school was carried into the new facility, where Stephenson adapted it to work with three 14-foot by 10.5-foot screens [sometimes used for image magnification or IMAG] and three Panasonic 6,000-lumen projectors. The entire system can be operated from a single laptop and can be disconnected for remote use.

“We wanted to maintain portability because our future vision is to start a remote campus,” says Stephenson. “This system can be sent to the new location when the time comes.”

“Church leadership saw this project as the next step toward becoming a multi-site church,” says Tomberlin. “Because of its central location in the community and its technological capabilities, this facility is positioned to be an ideal home base.”