Chapelstreet Church was looking for a unique solution for the addition and renovation of their North Aurora, Illinois campus. This compact facility required an efficient design so the spaces could be adapted to have more than one function. Aspen was called in to help, after having partnered with Chapelstreet on their South Streetand Keslinger campuses, as well as their Shepherd’s Heart Care Center. The outcome was a facility with a high level of flexibility for Sundays and mid-week activities, setting them up for success in a fast-changing culture.
Designed during the pandemic, we considered the question, “What will the Church look like in five years?” Our design team answered with a clean, open layout that utilizes every space intentionally.
Wayfinding was key, so the use of glass, overhead garage doors, and a natural traffic pattern was incorporated, leaving people in no doubt of how to navigate the space. Furniture and technology was designed to be flexible and adaptable for Chapelstreet’s growing and changing ministries.
The original building opened to a confined, cluttered hallway—not an ideal lobby space for connecting and building relationships. The new lobby space is now open and spacious with strategic zones of seating, giving people comfortable places to relax and build relationships.
Directly off the lobby is a donation kiosk for Chapelstreet’s Shepherd’s Heart Care Center, keeping their commitment to the surrounding community front and center, clearly inviting the congregation and visitors to get involved.
One of the unique aspects of the design is the fact that the rooms are divided by glass. This means, when you’re standing in the worship venue, you can look through to the lobby, and into the children’s spaces.
From there, you can look into the café and lobby spaces. The openness and translucency instills a sense of confidence in the space, and delivers a message that, “we’re together and we’re connected”—a winning concept for a compact space.
The light and bright 250 seat worship venue includes a set of glass garage doors connecting to the lobby space, while another set of doors connect to a family room space. Both spaces serve as overflow and add the flexibility of 50 more seats.
The new children’s ministry space was designed for maximum flexibility. Overhead glass garage doors flank the space, which allows the classrooms to double as additional lobby space, or extend on the opposite side to the large-group room.
This multipurpose space has movable, flexible furniture so it can be rearranged for different activities during the week.
The children’s check-in desk also doubles as a work space during the week.
One win of the campus is the shared parking between the church and a neighboring school. Chapelstreet is able to use the school’s parking lot on Sundays, and the school utilizes the church’s lot during the week, allowing them to develop a unique relationship, and seek out further ways to bless each other.
The ultimate win of the project is the innovation of a flexible, adaptable facility that will give Chapelstreet Church North Aurora space that impacts ministry and draws people closer to Jesus!
Read more about this unique addition and renovation here.
This has been a sponsored post by Aspen Group. If your church is looking a building a new facility or reimagining existing space, I cannot recommend Aspen Group enough! Click HERE to start a conversation with them TODAY!
This specific article was written by Greg Snider. Greg joined Aspen Group in 1999 in the role of partnering with churches to discover how to maximize their facilities and create space for ministry impact. He has written and presented on the power of connecting space, building churches for community impact, and the hybrid “phygital” church experience.