A Church Alive

Members of New Mexico's Church Alive have big dreams for their 10-acre site in northwest Albuquerque.

Crews from Jaynes Corp. of Albuquerque recently finished up a 12,000-sq.-ft. steel-framed building that becomes the permanent home of Church Alive. The group previously rented their building, and with the completion of this first phase, congregants are turning to the future.

Designers employed a variety of techniques to maintain flexibility for future expansion plans. Steel frame and steel stud provide options for connections, with designers avoiding load-bearing walls where a future building might mate up.

advertisement

"We put some big openings in there for future expansion, and of course, we had to put some big window openings for the nice views of the Sandia Mountaints," said structural engineer Charles Stubbs, vice president of Chavez Grieves in Albuquerque.

The master plan is also designed so the church can build in phases. Plans call for a permanent sanctuary seating up to 1,200, a multipurpose center, senior and youth centers and more classroom space.

"Tilt-up tends to be more restrictive, and steel stud and frame tends to be more economical and flexible," said project architect Dave Cook of Albuquerque's SMPC Architects Inc. "We tried to foresee what the future expansions might be so we don't paint ourselves into a corner."

The new church includes a temporary sanctuary for approximately 300 people, a children's classroom for Sunday school, child-care facilities, offices and a small "café" where members can congregate before and after services.

The classrooms and child-care facilities all feature fire-rated ceilings, with crews from Albuquerque's Four Suns Builders installing the ceilings, steel studs and drywall. The project is capped off with a spray-foam roof system applied by Ex-El Company Inc. of Albuquerque.

Extensive site preparation was the key for future expansion, so the civil work took a substantial portion of the project's $1.2 million budget. Steep slopes, city requirements and sandy soil challenged designers to deliver a workable site plan within the church's budget.

"We pushed some limits of design rules in terms of the slopes and what works for the entry ways and parking lots," Cook said. "We tried to deal with the site economically without creating a lot of retaining walls and other structures."

Albuquerque's Groundhog Excavating performed the grading and site work, which was designed by Bohannon Huston Inc., also of Albuquerque. Because of the site's poor soils and its location near an arroyo used for flood control, crews installed an 18-in. storm drain that runs underneath the building.

"The sand was a real drag," said Troy Otero, owner of Groundhog Excavation. "It's really sandy stuff and it's always blowing because there is nothing to keep it consolidated."