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Church Master Plan, New Church, Misc Projects

One of the most rewarding projects I have been involved with as an architect began during the first of three mission trips in Yucatan, Mexico from 2015 - 2017.  Accompanied by several other ‘grownups’ and a group of high school teens from my church we traveled to Citilcum, Mexico (a small Mayan village approximately 1.5 hours east of Merida) to provide assistance to Emmanuel Mission Church, a small local church that is part of the Sac-Be Presbytery in Mexico.  We provided labor each day for several construction projects and each afternoon assisted with a week-long vacation bible study for the children who lived in the area.  We were there to help build a multiuse activity court (MAC) on a piece of property that was being developed by the church as a Presbytery Retreat Center, for education and family life activities (recreation).  Residents provided rooms in their homes for us to sleep, and a group of women from the church cooked three meals a day for our team (see photos).   

 

Mid-week the Pastor discovered I was an architect and asked to meet with me to discuss the Church’s building plans.  With interpretation assistance from our group’s team leader (who grew up in Merida, Yucatan where three generations of his family have run a Christian Seminary), I heard the Pastor’s vision for the church property.  Then Pastor Carlos asked if I could assist by developing a master plan for the property that would depict the new church and support structures. 

 

After measuring the property with a 100’ tape measure, I spent the next few nights using nothing more than gridded note cards, a knife, flashlight, my sketching pens and a wish-list of needs to generate a scaled drawings (metric) of the site along and create paper cut-outs conveying various site / church configuration options.  Pastor Carlos was able to move the paper cut-outs around on the Site Plan as we discussed the pros and cons of different church configurations and possibilities for phased expansions.  Before leaving the village, I documented local materials and methods of construction, necessary to refine and draw conceptual floor plans of the Pastor’s preferred church concept, once back in St. Louis. 

 

Pastor Carlos also described his long-range vision for the Presbytery Retreat Center - not realizing planning of public indoor and outdoor (recreational) spaces was a specialty of mine.  I offered suggestions on the placement of the planned site amenities that greatly improved the efficiency, environmental quality, and flexibility of the property for enhanced programming of the spaces and activities envisioned.  A tremendous example of how God knows us and works in our lives for his greater purpose. 

 

In the subsequent summers, we were able to assist in building the manse (which was utilized as a temporary church and served as home to the Pastor), the church, and other needed structures including  the Pastor and a dining hall at the Seminary property. 

 

Fun Facts:

Multipurpose Court (constructed during the week in July 2015):

  • Compacted rock base – 75 cubic yards of rock +/-

  • Concrete 75 CU (cubic yards) – Mixed by hand and transported using 5 gal. buckets

  • Also moved several thousand concrete blocks at the church property

 

Other:

  • Daily temperature well above 100 deg

  • The typical income of a laborer in the village is $1/day

  • Common pests – Scorpions / tarantulas

  • Why sleep in hammocks?  Affords greater utilization of space and prevents said pests from gaining access to sleeping occupants. 

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Client:

Emmanuel Mission Church

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Scope:

Master Planning

Church Planning

2019 Completion

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Firm:

Self

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Photography

Reed I Voorhees, AIA

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I look forward to speaking with you

GET IN TOUCH:

CONTACT US:

RIV DESIGN

Reed Ittner Voorhees, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB

RIV Design, LLC

20 Clif Side Drive

St. Louis, Missouri  63122

Office: 314.479.0689

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Copyright © 2020

Where indicated, projects within this site highlight previous work performed by Mr. Voorhees while working for another company

Mobile: 314.803.0922

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