Each committee member, church leader, and clergy member comes to the design process with his or her own hopes and expectations. Through the Design Retreat Workshop your community can synthesize its diverse interests and goals into a unified vision.

Discussing Concepts at Design Retreat

“We were impressed by Ben’s familiarity with the church budget process. He completely won our attention by saying ‘I have never yet had a church tell me the sky’s the limit…we know how to stretch a buck.’ “
—Ann Young, First United Methodist Church, Austin, TX

Brainstorming at Design retreat worshop

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The Design Retreat Workshop

This gathering is the result of five decades of work with literally hundreds of worshipping communities. The Design Retreat Workshop helps building committiee members identify and address a wide variety of needs that affect their building program.
This full day session will help you and your building committee ask the right questions intelligenlty and objectively, then work together to find the solutions that will enrich your community for generations.

Every congregation leader needs to answer the same questions:

• Should we build new or renovate?

• How much should we build?

• How much will it cost?

• Will our new building program meet our needs and goals?

• Will it work with our existing facilities?

A place of worship is one of the most significant monuments in a community. It can be a daunting task to design a beautiful, functional, and meaningful building tailored specifically to your congregation. The completed construction must address the diverse needs and desires of your congregation while anticipating future growth and changing needs. Every option must be weighed against physical

Why a retreat?

The retreat setting brings people together in a spiritual environment conducive to group sharing and listening. As we focus on the community's needs the group can begine to identify the fundamental issues of the project. As the congregation begins to buy into the idea that a solution is possible, we find moments creativity and outside-the-box thinking that translate into inspired design.

Our job in this part of the process

The architect's job is to facilitate group sharing and exchange of ideas. Each person brings their knowledge and dreams, and contributes to a shared expression of faith and community. Time and again the group comes alive with creativity and inspired solutions. The trust and sense of purpose developed throughout the day results in consensus or near consensus on tangible solutions that are better than any one person could design on their own.

Concensus is the means, design the differentiator

From Collaborative creativity springs timeless, classic design. The final product blends old and new, traditional and contemporary, while being tailored to each community. The design efforts of everyone involved create a worship space that is truly a spiritual expression of the congregation.

Process without preconception

People often remark that no two Heimsath Architect projects are exactly alike. This is becasue we know each community is unique, and the worship space reflects and enhances each congregation.

the master planning process

The Design Retreat process works best as a key componenet of a comprehensive Master Plan. By fully understanding the congregation's needs and goals, the Master Plan creates a unified "roadmap" that avoids piecemeal building programs that create new problems.

A good Master Plan contains:

• Design Solutions

• Budget Projections

• Phasing Recommendations

• Zoning Requirements

Having this singular vision can be used to tackle projects with seemingly "impossible " problems. Through collaboration and Master Planning, we have completed even the most complex buildings on time and within budget. Building committees that have participated in the Design Retreat Workshop report that Heimsath Architects' Master Paln jump-started fundraising nd made congregations eager to begin building.