RB+B completed work for Council Tree Covenant Church (formerly Evangelical Covenant Church) that spanned nearly two decades. The project, which began with a master plan and resulted in multiple projects, included sanctuary, classroom, youth space and design details to support the mission of the church and its goals for future growth.
LOCATION:
Fort Collins, CO
CLIENT:
Evangelical Covenant Church
SCOPE:
Master Plan and 7,000-Square-Foot Addition
COST:
$1.4 Million
In 1994, RB+B completed an ambitious master plan to quadruple the size of the Evangelical Church of Fort Collins. This plan included greatly expanded educational space for Sunday use as well as for Heritage Christian School – maximizing space efficiency/ minimizing costs for both entities. In the first building phase, a full gymnasium and a classroom/education wing were constructed, along with additional parking. The gymnasium was built with a stage to temporarily accommodate worship services. A sanctuary and additional classroom space were master planned for the future.
In 1996, additional classroom/youth space was built per the master plan.
It was not until 2004 that the vision/work of the master plan was completed through the addition of a 375-seat Sanctuary and lobby space. The forms for the sanctuary were derived from the existing chapel. The sanctuary utilizes a combination of pews and individual seating for maximum flexibility of worship style, and is the site of many musical events due to its superior acoustics. Parking to accommodate increased attendance was achieved by negotiation with the City for street parking in lieu of the plan for onsite parking.
Symbolism was crafted throughout the space. The rock wall behind the altar includes stones from many places that were contributed by people in the congregation – often with special meaning to their contributors. Inspiration for the rock wall came through an unexpected story. While climbing Kit Carson Peak, A Colorado 14er, congregation members Ken Field (architect) and Steve Savig (geologist) noted an exceptional formation of conglomerate rock. Conglomerate is formed when molten rock oozes into a field of individual rocks, cooling and thus binding into one formation of the rocks present. The many types, bound by mortar in the sanctuary wall, are symbolic of the worship participants – a connection the church wanted the architecture to symbolize.
The church, just south of Harmony at 4825 South Lemay, has now been renamed Council Tree Covenant Church and continues to grow.
