EW SANCTUARY, YOUTH BUILDING, AND RENOVATIONS TO EXISTING FACILITY
Cram and Ferguson Architects, LLC
7 March 2025
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150 YEARS OF EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY WHAT MAKES CRAM AND FERGUSON UNIQUE?
Since our founding in 1889, Cram and Ferguson has been the pre-eminent designer of Traditional American religious architecture. Our design is unique and distinguished from ordinary modern architectural design which is built from a catalog of mass-produced assemblies composed of robotically produced parts.
A religious architecture: Ordinary Modern architecture is a secular architecture, taught in schools where the curriculum has avoided religious and historically-inspired design. As a result we have a generation that is ignorant of religious design and its language and detailing.
No stick-on pastiche: Architects who do not usually practice traditional design are incapable of doing so well. Never having studied religious monuments in Europe in-person, they invariably resort to 2-dimensional stick-on pastiche based on photographs of historic buildings.
A Cram and Ferguson building is founded on the study of monumental historic buildings in person. By being in the presence of greatness, we gain an understanding of greatness. Knowledge is gained through observing, photographing, measuring and drawing these models.
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Instead of BIM (Building Information Modeling) we make Raw Materials into a finished product. Our special ability is to take the raw materials of a location and fashion from them a spectacular place of deep faith, quality and taste. Our process is time consuming, unique and customized to the community it is designed to serve.
Pre-bids, Pre-Purchases: Instead of choosing ready-made catalog parts, we assist the church in purchasing, and often directly importing, custom-made, high-quality/high-value added components at lower than catalog cost to save money and ensure high-quality materials are not eliminated in VE.
Sources for Specialized Items: We have our own pre-selected, trusted sources and suppliers for many specialized and custom materials. Many are not available to other architects or builders. We pass this savings on to the client. Most other architectural firms do not do this.
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Savings: It is typical for our custom-made and imported products to cost half of the comparable product purchased in the local market. Savings can defray a substantial portion of the cost of the architectural design effort.
Christ the King Presbyterian Church was founded in 1997.
While first meeting for worship in a hotel conference room, the church’s initial facility was designed in 2008 and renovated and expanded in 2014. The 2008 design included plans for a large sanctuary in the Gothic style, but only a smaller sanctuary was built and the aesthetic considerably simplified.
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n the intervening time, the church has expanded its site on Silber Road and developed community playing fields to the north of the existing structures. It has grown considerably in size and its ministries expanded in both scope and variety, including substantial children’s and youth programs. It also hosts an on-site pre-school and a therapy center during the week, the Barnabas Center. In early 2024, a preliminary visioning exercise was undertaken, suggesting a new Youth Building to the north and an enlarged Sanctuary to the south seating 1,000, with additional repurposing of spaces within the existing structure to house an expanded Children’s Ministry, administrative spaces, and the Barnabas Center.
Beginning in late 2024, Cram and Ferguson Architects in Boston, Massachusetts, was engaged to test the conclusions of this exercise, to develop a comprehensive program and new Master Plan for Christ the King, and propose initial visualizations for the overall design. Over the following months, we have worked closely with the committee, interviewed stakeholders, considered multiple schemes, and developed a final overall concept intended to address the varied needs of the community. With this document, we present our conclusions to the community of Christ the King.
As we at Cram and Ferguson began this study, a constant theme we have heard is Christ the King’s desire to present a hospitable and welcoming face to the surrounding community. This is manifested in the numerous ministry programs and amenities it offers to the public such as the Fields to the north, used by local youth teams. This desire, however, stands in strong contrast to the site, arrangement and vocabulary of the existing complex.
Approaching from the south on Silber Road, the first thing visible is the slab-like structure housing church offices, education, the Barnabas Center, and youth spaces. Most churchgoers and visitors arrive in the South Parking Lot currently and approach the sanctuary via the main entry of the office block, via the long hall-like concourse called Main Street. The current Sanctuary does not have a clear front door of its own and its presence is only marked from the exterior by a small flèche, or spire. Trees are planted throughout the site but serve mostly to block clear views of the structures and particularly the sanctuary from the road. Identifying signage is behind a fence and is difficult to spot. From the north, where the Fields are located, one is greeted by a view which is dominated by a loading dock and other back-of-house elements.
The overall vocabulary is anonymous and suggestive of office or commercial structures. This carries into the interior as well. The building’s circulation spine, Main Street, is wide and low, and is often crowded between services as people appear to prefer it to the large and sometimes partially-empty Great Hall. The existing Sanctuary is large, but the congregation is larger, requiring two services every Sunday. The Sanctuary also suffers from lighting, aesthetic and sightline issues. The facility, housing many ministries, is in constant use throughout Sunday and the week, and needs a general update to respond to how church life has developed over the past two decades.
ABOVE: The wall-like appearance of the church’s office and education wing is the first thing that visitors and churchgoers see on arriving at the property from the south. This serves as the main entry. BELOW: Trees obscure most direct views of the church buildings and Sanctuary from Silber Road. Signage is hard to see.
ABOVE: The architecture of the complex is anonymous, and suggestive of corporate or commercial structures, with stucco predominating. The Sanctuary’s main entry is from the interior, its exterior entry unused and off-axis. BELOW: Most visitors use the South Parking Lot entry on Sundays to enter the social, educational and worship spaces of the complex.
ABOVE AND BELOW: The north side, closest to the Fields, has an utilitarian, unwelcoming back-of-house ambience, with loading docks visible and side-entries into the Great Hall. Given the Fields are used by the public, this is a lost opportunity for outreach.
ABOVE: Access to the Sanctuary and other major spaces is usually via Main Street, the principal circulation space. BELOW: Main Street becomes crowded between services, despite the Great Hall being immediately adjacent.
ABOVE: The Great Hall is a cavernous space, and given the ingrained preference for socializing in Main Street, potentially too large for its purpose.
ABOVE: Despite an open plan, the Sanctuary’s outdated lighting and an unsloped floor making it difficult to see the faces of clergy, prayer leaders, and musicians. RIGHT: While the Sanctuary platform is spacious, the musicians are mostly clustered on either side on narrow platforms with no easily-accessed backstage space.
ABOVE: The Narthex to the Sanctuary, often used as a waiting space for latecomers, is windowless and undersized; it lacks a sense of welcome and anticipation of the space beyond.
EXISTING CONDITIONS
SITE PLANS, FLOOR PLANS AND ANALYSIS
Ferguson
PROJECT STANDARDS
Astandard is a required or agreed level of quality or attainment: A norm, yardstick, benchmark, gauge, measure, criterion, guide, model, pattern, example, paradigm, ideal, archetype, specification, principle, law.
The Worship Building will:
Be approachable
Be clearly expressed and have a fitting place on the site
Be clearly identifiable as a Worship facility in symbol and in fact
Be welcoming to member, guest and visitor, particularly non-members of Christ the King
Be designed to control operating costs
The Facility will Communicate:
Efficiency
Clarity
Welcome
Unity
Service
Beauty
Hospitality
Meaning
Discipleship
Culture Mission
Faith Spirit
DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
A Beautiful and Affordable Facility
1. Worship and Youth Buildings will be intentionally beautiful.
2. The design will address the exterior spaces and the whole Site, as well as the buildings.
3. Materials of Construction:
As much as the budget will allow, use:
a. Tried and true materials that will stand the test of time: Brick, Stone, Masonry – long-lived materials.
b. Resilient Materials – hard roofing materials that can withstand wind, hail and water – Houston weather.
The Facility design will communicate its purpose
1. The Worship Space location expresses the place of worship in the design and in the Christ the King Community.
2. The Facility will combine indoor and outdoor spaces and promote multipurpose use.
3. The Facility will communicate rootedness and permanence. Christ the King’s community is multi-generational; not temporary or transitory.
A Purposeful Facility will teach by its inherent qualities – a built theology
1. The design will incorporate craft to achieve beauty and express the divine.
2. The facility will be fitting for the sacred, suited to liturgy.
3. How can CTK maximize its use of the site?
a. Best ways to provide play areas for CTK youth
i. Sport play areas
ii. Urban Gardening areas and flower gardens
b. Best Parking layout
i. Parking expansion should enhance pedestrian and youth security
ii. Keep walking distances to minimum possible
iii. Incorporate site beautification in landscape design
4. How to encourage CTK members to use site on Sunday? Other Days? Evenings?
5. Address vehicular entry and exit to and from site.
A
Hospitable Facility
1. Explore the best use of the Site by non-church groups; e.g., the playing fields.
2. Worship and the Site: access the Worship Space safely and conveniently.
3. Discipleship and Outreach: Enhance the public use of Christ the King facilities.
4. Invite and facilitate hospitality to community:
a. Community walk-through and exercise path.
b. Safe passage away from Silber Road.
c. Shade along the pathways.
5. Church Members meeting up for play dates
6. Not intimidating to neighbors and non-Christian friends
A Safe Facility
1. Site lighting to ensure good visibility for pedestrians and vehicles
2. Safe and convenient vehicular circulation
3. Explore ways to ensure security for those using the property
Worship Space Design
1. Worship space should be flexible
2. Dressed up, the worship space should evoke both the tran scendence and immanence of God
3. Dressed down, it can be used for concerts, etc.
4. Does not separate the pastors from the people
3. Does not separate the people from each other
4. Does not exhibit extravagance
5. Combine richness of the past with freshness of the present
6. It should be a unified design: “Not disjointed, as in retrofitting a Gothic church for electric guitar”
PROGRAM AND SPACE QUALITY OBJECTIVES
Initial Program (November 4, 2024) with Updates
Sanctuary and Lobby: 19,500 square feet
From Incipio Diagram
Sanctuary: 15,000 square feet
Bride’s Room: 500 square feet
Lobby 4,000 square feet
Sanctuary Balcony: 3,200 square feet
Sanctuary has 800 seats with expansion space to 1,000 Chair seating preferred; 11/20/24 - Committee open to sloped floor with pews
Youth Building: 22,950 square feet
First Floor with Gymnasium: 15,450 square feet
Second Floor: 7,500 square feet
Great Hall Build-Out: 15,300 square feet
First Floor Build-Out: 7,650 square feet
Expanded infant and toddler rooms to be shared with Preschool for expansion
Second Floor Build-Out: 7,650 square feet
New floor; dedicated counseling center space
Second Floor Classroom Build out: 8,875 square feet
Reconfigured space, expanded early elementary classrooms
Third Floor Office Build-Out: 7,675 square feet
Reconfigured space; administrative ofices with space for ministry partners
Old Sanctuary/Chapel Build-Out: 7,100 sf square feet
Reconfigured from Existing Sanctuary
02/04/25 Convert space to multipurpose use, name TBD
Gathering HalI [added 01/04/2025] 4,500 square feet
[Omitted 1/04/2025] Chapel [100-150 seats]: 2,600 square fe
Initial Program Objectives (October 14, 2024) with Updates
Phase I [RFP Masterplan: Phases now Combined]
1. A new Youth Facility for shared community use that would include recreation space as well as after school programs
Fun /creative space, respects main building, speaks to youth; plan for up to 240 youth (long-term)
Groups broken into Middle School and High School
Central Gathering Space: Hang-Out, Gaming Area and Food
Two Large Group Spaces, for Middle and High School
Breakout Spaces
Conditioned gymnasium for basketball, volleyball and pre-function games
Lots of Storage
Access to pickleball courts, exterior recreation fields
2. A stand-alone Counseling Center
[RFP Masterplan: No longer Stand-Alone; part of renovations to main facility]
Incipio Diagram: 4,825 square foot Stand Alone Building
Stand-alone facility with privacy
Eight counseling offices (minimum)
Director’s Office
Group Therapy Room
Play Therapy Room
Multi-Purpose Room
Break /File Room
3. Mixed-Use Building 8,400 square feet
RFP Masterplan: Omitted; some elements in proposed Gathering Hall
Partner-led Coffee/Healthy Food Shop with ministry partner (to be determined) 2,000 square feet
Collaborative Workspace with ministry partners
4,000 square feet
Event Space (100-120 at tables) 2,400 square feet
Outdoor courtyard /seating area
4. Columbarium [Now Memorial Garden, no Columbarium]
5. Walking path
6. Prayer Garden [Now omitted]
7. Community Playground Area
Phase II [RFP Masterplan: Phases now Combined]
1. A new 1,000 seat Sanctuary
1,000 seats: about 750 on the floor and 250 in a balcony.
The use of the balcony would be delayed until the floor seating was filling up
Sloped Floor with pews
DAN 05 11/13/24: Seating Preference is Chairs
Larger platform with room for all instruments and singers without taking away from the center focus
Large backstage and back of house ancillary spaces
Nursery, Preschool and Elementary would ideally be via one central entrance so that security can be maintained throughout the program
Plan for 400-420 children (Birth-5th Grade)
Access to exterior playground
Coordinate with Preschool
3. Additional Adult Sunday School space
Multiple-sized Rooms
4. Additional office space
Office location should be easily identifiable for visitors
Need enclosed offices and open offices
Work Room / Storage
Break Room
5. An event space other than the Great Hall
LIST OF CUSTOM CRAFT ITEMS
Wood Furnishings
Communion Table
Pulpit
Baptismal Font
Worship Chairs (2)
Apse Cross and Surround/backdrop
Apse Paneling
Transept Vestibule Paneling
Nave Wainscot
AV Booth Fascia and/or Enclosure
Balcony Fascia
Specialty Wood Doors
Narthex Exterior (Main Entry)
Narthex Exterior (Parking)
Transept Exterior (South)
Transept Exterior (North)
Fellowship Exterior
Hand Forged Hardware (Hinge Fronts & Pulls)
Narthex Exterior (Main Entry)
Narthex Exterior (Parking)
Transept Exterior (South)
Transept Exterior (North)
Fellowship Exterior
Balcony Railing
PROPOSED CHANGES NARRATIVE
After careful analysis of the site, review of the previous Master Plan, and extensive discussion with committee members and other stakeholders at Christ the King, Cram and Ferguson presented several rounds and variations of schemes for the placement and initial layout of the new sanctuary, the reuse and reconfiguration of the existing spaces, and the placement and layout of the Youth Building.
The new Sanctuary is located on the south side of the facility, creating an enclosed green space between it and the Preschool suitable for safe recreation. The Sanctuary is designed to maximize seating and closeness to the pulpit and communion table while retaining a cruciform plan. Its massing and layout adapt the traditional sacred language of Gothic architecture to modern budgeting and construction methods, while also respecting in its dignified simplicity the Reformed liturgy celebrated within. Main Street is extended via an arched conditioned connector to the new Sanctuary and its Narthex, a suitable place for casual conversation between services and a space to wait before entering the Sanctuary. A Fellowship Hall designed on a more intimate scale is conveniently placed nearby to attract socalization between and after services. A lawn nearby serves as an opportune location for outdoor events.
The Main Street corridor continues through the existing building, with the old Sanctuary adapted as a multipurpose Flex space usable for smaller services, larger social events, and other uses. The other existing spaces within the building have been extensively reconfigured to match the new program and address the church’s growing needs. To the north, the Youth Building and Gym enclose another lawn, suitable for events or for play, with the children’s playground adjoining. A covered outdoor walkway links these to the existing bilding. The Youth Building is also close to the Fields, allowing access by players to the restroom facilities. The location for the future Barnabas Center anchors the northeastern corner of the site, with a separate entrance off the new northern parking lot.
