Avoiding the Trap of Design by Committee [Featured on Church.Design]

Arguably one of the unique aspects of church architecture and technology design is just how democratic the process often is: depending on the house of worship, the number of people providing design input can be … well, numerous. For architects and technology designers, this is a significant challenge: while every voice should be heard, there’s a lot of feedback to sift through. At the same time, it’s also in the design experts’ best interests to go through this process as efficiently as possible in order to remain profitable by keeping the project on schedule, and within budget.

Coupled with these challenges is the fact that, in most cases, the church has never been through a design and construction project, or a large-scale technology deployment, before. “The reality is most churches only do this once,” says Brian O’Morrow, church relations at CCI Solutions, an audio, video, and lighting design and integration firm headquartered in Olympia, Washington. “We’re teaching them how to interact with an integrator, and we’re showing them that they don’t have to be apprehensive, because the project process can be a positive experience when approached with personalized care.”