Grace Chapel Community Church

Grace Chapel selected Barrett Architecture to help them design a new sanctuary for their growing congregation.

Located near downtown Cullman, Alabama, the church was meeting in a converted gymnastics facility for worship and in an old retail building for classroom meeting space. After the church acquired a parcel of land that sat between these two buildings, we developed a master plan that proposed new sanctuary and classroom buildings that would maximize their existing buildings for future uses. It was determined that the previous worship space would become a youth building and the old retail building would be reconfigured for new classrooms.

Once the master plan was complete, Barrett Kent Studio developed the design for the new sanctuary and classroom buildings, which are set apart to allow for a playground space between them. The sanctuary is a pre-engineered timber framed structure with exposed wood columns, beams and decking that provide a beautiful finish for the worship space. Large windows on either side fill the room with natural light. The seating layout provides 389 seats with the majority of them located in riser areas. This distribution makes the room feel much more intimate, allowing the seats in the back to feel much close in to the center.

BKS worked close with Eidson Construction to control project costs. The exterior of the old retail building was updated to match the finishes of the new construction.