Project Details:
- Date completed: May 2015
- Project total: $555,946
- Entrance lobbies for adults, youth,
and families
Project Background:
Vineyard Cincinnati Church is the name given to one non-denominational multisite church that meets in five locations in and around the Cincinnati metro area. Each campus location has the same mission and message, but they meet in their own neighborhoods and serve the people there.
Because of continued growth, Vineyard’s leadership team began to feel the need to enhance and improve its 30-year-old facility. And changes were needed.
Without any significant updates since the 1990s, Vineyard Cincinnati’s space no longer reflected the church’s vibrancy. Initially, church leaders wanted to invest in a larger connecting space leading into the auditorium. Garry Shirk, the church’s executive pastor of operations, helped encourage a different tack. They decided to focus on making entry points more welcoming and conducive for ministry, an investment that aligns with the church’s unique culture and calling.
Additionally, Vineyard Cincinnati wanted a quick turnaround on the project—three months—so they could be ready in time for the expected influx of visitors on Easter Sunday.
It was a tight deadline, but Aspen Group went to work right away, kicking off the work with a series of mini-programming sessions with key players from the church’s hospitality, welcome, facility, and children’s teams.
Project Results:
Aspen Group needed to create spaces in which people from all economic backgrounds would feel comfortable when entering. To that end, Aspen’s architects and interior designers redesigned the church’s two lobby entrances and created new, manageable traffic flows by defining one entry for the children’s area and one for the main auditorium. No longer do the lobbies function like “cattle shoots”—as Shirk called them—but now allow people to linger and connect with ease. Each lobby includes digital signage, full coffee bars, new furniture, lighting, carpeting and paint colors. The children’s entrance—Discovery Land—also includes a more secure check-in process, as well as a remodeled family room and baby theater.
On the lower level, Aspen Group redesigned the west hall entrance, making it even easier for families to drop-off children with the addition of a handicap-accessible ramp, canopy covering, and secure storefront doorways. Aspen Group also added a fresh paint color in the main atrium area.
Additionally, all redesigned spaces include noticeable drop-off locations for Vineyard’s Healing Center—the church’s not-for-profit organization that aids the local community with emergency food and clothing, tutoring, financial coaching, and job searches.
While more substantial changes will need to be made in the future, these renovations help make the church more accessible and inviting to all at a time when many new visitors are attending. Vineyard Cincinnati stands ready to continue serving the community it loves until the Holy Spirit moves them to take the next step to more fully upgrade its church facility.
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