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Executive Church Board Decision Tips
Written by Joseph DeBuglio, 1987
Edited by Dave Gordon, Eagle Sound and Acoustics 2004
If your church is planning a new building using these tips will save your church thousands of dollars. Most of the recommendations listed here cannot be applied once the walls are up. Please remember these are guidelines to ensure you at least have a good foundation. An audio and acoustical practitioner is still needed to determine exact values needed.
Here are the most common mistakes churches make with their sound systems, acoustics, new churches and church renovations. This list is not going to tell you how to live with them or how to fix them. For that you need expert help. If your sound system designer who should be an "expert" fails to respond to these problems, then do not be surprised if your new sound system, acoustics or new church does not sound good.
- Do not design a square church. It is the worst shape. Excess sound storage, standing waves, excess noise from early and late reflections is just some of the problems.
- If you do design a square church, place the platform in the corner. This is better, but there is no acoustical, sound or architectural reason to build such a space in the first place. You can make such a room speech and music friendly, but this is about all you can do.
- Do not design or build a round church.
- Do not build octagon or hexagon shaped rooms (or any room shape where there is an even number of walls and all of the walls are of equal length and height).
- Do not design a church with long parallel walls without any diffusion on them. Simple statues, pillars, outrounds, or zig zag walls can make the difference between a great room and a sound booth for the drummer.
- Do not make the back walls of a church large and flat. It will create a strong echo problem which will challenge speech and increases poor musicians' effects and challenges their timing techniques.
- Do not build a fan shaped room greater than 160 degrees wide. Do not plan your seating were the minister must turn his or her head more than 50 degrees in either direction.
- Do not accept new walls less than 2" x 6" inside the worship space. 2" x 8" are better on 12 inch centers. Every wall inside a church must be insulated.
- Do not drywall with less than 5/8" drywall. (Two layers of 5/8" is best.)
- Do not drywall without adding insulation compressed at least 20%.
- Do not build a balcony with less than a 12 foot for the first 8 rows under it or 13 feet for 11 rows or 14 feet for 16 rows.
- Do not build bulkheads over the front of an alter or chancel area unless you are purposely building a theatrical stage.
- Do not design a deep proscenium arch or an arch in front of the choir.
- Do not design the roof to be low over the audience, and high over the pulpit. Think of a trumpet or sound wave, better yet, remember the inverse square law of physics.
- Do not build a church with an inside roof less than 24 feet. A higher roof is always preferred.
- The lower the roof the more expensive the sound system and acoustical treatment.
- Do not add domes and concave walls in a church. Such surfaces are best used in high traffic areas like the foyer and offices.
- Do not accept the RT60 measurement at 1K (1,000 hertz). Rt60 should be over a range from 200 hertz to 5000 hertz minimum.
- Do not accept a building with a reverb time at 200 hertz of less than 1.4 seconds or greater than 2.3 seconds.
- Do not accept a building with a reverb time at 2,000 hertz of less than 1.4 seconds or greater than 2.3 seconds
- Do not accept a sound system that scores less than 90% intelligibility or a room which scores less than 92% intelligibility without a sound system in the first 4 rows.
- Do not put speakers in bulkheads.
- Do not have the Organ and Piano further than 20 feet apart. This also depends on the size of the church. Either way, they should be reasonably close.
- Do not put the organ pipes or organ speakers over the heads of the choir.
- Do not put a piano in a pit or against a wall with carpet under it.
- Do not paint over acoustical materials until you are advised by an acoustical consultant who will take responsibility for the job. Paint has tremendous effects on room acoustics. Even if a wall material is soft or if you feel you need to paint the unpainted block, watch out. True, you cannot hurt the brick but the acoustics can change so much that you may have to sand blast what was painted later. It has happened.
- Do not make foyers as hard as possible.
- Do not install wiring and amplifier in the organ loft next to the relay switcher. The clicking sound of the relays may be amplified through the sound system.
- Do not hire an architect first. Design your church yourself with an acoustical expert. Who do you think designed the Crystal Cathedral and other famous houses of worship? Most all of the famous churches are designed first by the minister and church members then engineered by Architects.
- Check on past client references. By not checking on references, it will ensure you will make the same mistakes other churches make all the time.
- Do not follow local commercial building codes. Exceed them. The cost difference between a great building and a poor building is often less than 15%. Building codes are a minimum standard for short term construction (20 years or less). Many churches who follow the minimum building codes find themselves making major building repairs before the first mortgage is paid off. Churches which exceed the building codes often put off major building repairs by as much as 15 to 20 years.
- Do not allow your consultant or sound system designer to ignore the "sweetspot" theory. It is not a myth.
- Do not rely on Computer CAD simulations to design your sound system. These computer programs can be easily fudged.
- Do not rely on Computer CAD simulations for worship space designs. They too can be easily fudged. When building a new church, visit local churches built in the last 15 years to create your wish list. Interview the church secretary, caretaker, and deacon responsible for property management. Visit the minister last. Visit and interview former churches your Architect built 3 to 5 years ago and document the good and bad points.
- Do not put the mixer desk outside the seating area of the worship space. Do not put the mixer desk in a room attached to the worship space. Do not put the mixer desk against the back wall. Do not put the mixer desk in a balcony. Keep the mixer desk on the main floor, off to one side.
- Do not have more than one electrical panel supplying electricity for the sound system (this includes outlets on the platform which will power electronic instruments plugged into the sound system).
- Do not accept a lighting system with a maximum foot candle of 35 for seating and 70 for stage area. The minimum foot candles should be 60 foot candles for the seating area and 140 foot candles for the stage area.
- Do not accept an air handling system to be louder than 25db or NC 30.
- Do not accept an air cooling system less than 1 ton per 500 square feet.
- Do not install your HVAC system on the roof over the worship space.
- Do not have your HVAC system attached to the worship space.
- Do not install your HVAC system inside your worship space.
- Do not have an air return system with a duct less than 20 feet long.
- Do not have the air return next to the soundman.
- Air returns should be twice the size of the supply lines.
" Fact #1: 75% of the churches built today claim they would like to tear down their new church and rebuild the way acoustical experts suggest.
" Fact #2: 98% of these churches repeat the same mistakes when given the opportunity.
Is it not fascinating how every ministry who starts a new building project, renovation or addition starts out with the best intentions? By the time the project is finished you end up with all of the above mistakes. Because of hopes of saving money or second guessing their acoustical needs several compromises are made. The truly unique churches are the ones who stick to their convictions, avoid the mistakes on these pages and take a leap of faith - only to discover their faith is rewarded beyond their dreams. To do any of the mistakes on this page is a sure fire way to create an over priced, confusing room to be avoided for speech, music and worship. Churches are the most dissatisfied owners of buildings in the world.
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