Beavercreek Nazarene Before (left) & After Pre-Planned Expansion (right)

It’s always wise to plan ahead when making a major investment. In the same way someone wouldn’t want to purchase a two seat car when they were soon planning a big family, it makes sense to consider future expansion when undertaking any major church building project. The need to double your seating capacity in your worship space now might be a pressing need now, but if your vision is much larger it’s also sensible to work with the design team to plan even further ahead. A little work now can make it much easier to accommodate expansion at a later date.

Here are two examples of where The McKnight Group has worked with organizations on facilities where future expansion is built into the initial church design.

An Expandable Church Design

In Beavercreek, Ohio, we designed the sanctuary of Beavercreek Nazarene to be expandable. The church wanted a future sanctuary to seat close to 1000 people, but presently they knew they needed a worship space that would seat 600.  So we designed the back wall of their sanctuary to be removable, with offices and weekday meeting spaces behind that wall. When they were ready to expand the sanctuary and give it a face lift, there were no issues with load-bearing walls, HVAC systems or lighting and their worship space now comfortably holds almost 1,000 people.

Build Up in the Name of the Lord

At Mount Vernon Nazarene University, a one-story building was intentionally designed to handle expansion to two stories in the future. When the university was ready to build that facility, it was easier and straightforward for us to come in and make renovations happen, because the second floor was already in place.  We designed the second floor layout to meet the current University’s needs.  When construction started we had to do was remove the existing roof to begin building the second floor.

Are You Ready to Think Big?

If you are working with your church leadership to develop a vision for the future of your worship facility, think beyond your short-term needs. When investing in a church building or remodeling project, make sure that the church design will incorporate a vision for future expansion. Thinking big now will make that future expansion both easier and less costly. Your children will be glad you did!

To learn more about this and other important considerations in developing a new church design, sign up for our free i3 webinars.