After over 40 years of building churches, we have learned that church leaders have a lot of questions—very reasonable questions—about church interior design and the best ways to help a vision come alive within one’s church building.
In this post, Jennifer Snider, our interior designer, is answering more of the interior design questions you’ve asked—this time, focusing on platform flooring.
Carpeting is a Great Choice
All of the flooring in a church must be commercial-grade. Also consider warranty and work with a reputable company for any of your church flooring. Beyond that, when it comes to platform flooring, carpet is a great choice and there are several advantages to it. Carpet is quieter than a hard surface, and a cut pile carpet will easily flow up the stairs, as you can see in the picture from First Church of God in Bellefontaine, Ohio. Neutral carpets like this one will easily blend into the rest of the space if you want to keep the focus on worship leaders rather than the platform itself.
If your church vision pulls you toward dressing up a carpeted platform a bit, you can upgrade the feel with a band of wood along the top of the platform. You can also use a contrasting color of carpet to help the platform stand out. However, it’s best to use a solid carpet rather than introducing a pattern on the platform, which might draw the eye away from worship.
Church Interior Design Options with Wood
Here, at Parma Baptist Church in Parma, Ohio, a wood laminate platform was chosen. It dresses up the space and gives the platform more of a presence. It is more expensive than carpet, but can make a dramatic statement.
In addition to dressing up the space and making the platform stand out, a hard surface will also change the platform’s acoustics. So, if you’re looking at wood flooring options, make sure to consult with your A/V folks and include them in your decision-making process, because their audio system will interact differently with harder surfaces. In some cases, a hard surface is preferred based on acoustics.
Choosing Theatrical Platform Flooring
Another church interior design option for platform flooring involves a more theatrical look, as you can see in this picture from Gateway Church of the Nazarene in Oskaloosa, Iowa. This flooring is also constructed with wood, so acoustically it will have a similar “live” feel as a hardwood or laminate platform—and will require input from your A/V folks.
There are a couple of advantages to theatrical flooring. First, if you often use sets or other decorative elements, you can screw them into the platform itself for added safety, then easily remove them and use simple black paint to freshen up and cover any holes or scrapes.
Second, you can contrast the theatrical black platform with carpeted steps to both minimize noise and “ground” the platform to the church interior design of the rest of the worship space.
More Church Building Information and Answers
We’ll answer more frequently asked questions about church design soon. Meanwhile, check out our free i3 webinar series. One or more will provide ideas and assistance as your church begins a new church building or renovation project. Accessing the webinars is easy: Simply visit our website and sign up!