Historic Church Multi-Building Facility Assessment

Huff’s Union Church maintains seven outbuildings with varying levels of historic significance, including the Church dating back to 1876. We provided a complete Facilities Assessment to help the congregation identify top-priority preservation projects and determine which other projects should be budgeted for and addressed over time. This assessment report included an in-depth photo series, with building reviews, an HVAC summary, code implications, and an estimation of probable costs for each of the seven buildings.

Children’s Chapel Doubles as a Multipurpose Function Room

In 2012, the Children’s Home of Reading, in partnership with its donors and capital improvements committee, commissioned Muhlenberg Greene Architects to design a new Chapel addition to CHOR’s Pear Street Cottage building.

The addition was envisioned by its benefactors as a sanctuary for non-denominational worship, meditation and peaceful reflection. In addition, the space was to serve a multi-purpose function for small group activities, family visits, meetings, and music and art therapy sessions. Our challenge was to design a space that served these disparate functions within a small footprint and a modest budget.

To assist CHOR with its fundraising efforts, MG Architects developed conceptual renderings and design drawings for the Chapel that were presented to donors to generate support for the initiative. Over time, we revised our design, and eventually developed construction drawings to build the addition, and in 2016, the project officially broke ground.

The Holleran Chapel was delivered as a design/build project in conjunction with Associated Construction & Management Corporation (ACM), for whom we prepared detailed construction drawings and specifications. MG Architects also assisted ACM with bidding support and construction administration services throughout the construction phase. Mechanical and Electrical design services were provided by others, and MG Architects provided in-house structural design.

The Holleran Chapel, housing the Arthur L. Schott Sanctuary, was completed and dedicated in 2017. It continues to serve the residents and staff of the CHOR as a spiritual refuge and gathering place.

Congregation Gets a New Facility

A former J.C. Penney department store, built in the 1950s, was adapted to accommodate a growing congregation in New Jersey. Located on the western edge of downtown Dover, the building was home to a flag factory, which had been closed for about five years.

Muhlenberg Greene Architects designed a new 10,000-square-foot chapel under one 30,000-square-foot roof, combining two local congregations poised for growth. The store building was converted into a church, which required bringing it up to code, and the addition of a 40-foot steeple.

Read more about the project in this article from The Daily Record.

Read more about the project in this article from Religious Products News.

Church Renovation Accommodates New Organ

Working closely with the Music & Worship and Property Committees of Saint John’s Lutheran Church, Muhlenberg Greene Architects, Ltd. planned the necessary renovations to the existing Nave balcony area to accommodate the Church’s new Schantz pipe organ and the relocation of the Choir from the Chancel area. The Schantz instrument replaced a Fritzche organ that the church had used since 1957.

Services centered around the coordination of the design and installation of a new pipe organ with the organ builder, which required significant upgrades to the existing electrical service to meet the needs of the new instrument. This upgrade also accommodates adding air conditioning to the sanctuary area in the future.

Additionally, renovations were made to the existing nave balcony area to better accommodate the new Schantz pipe organ and the relocation of the choir from the chancel area. Reconfiguration of the existing balcony to allow the organ console and choir location greater flexibility.

Muhlenberg Greene Architects provided Architectural Planning and Design, and Mechanical/Electrical Engineering services for the building renovations to St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

New addition and renovations to St. Michael's

After completing the Master Plan Study for St. Michael’s Church, Muhlenberg Greene Architects was commissioned to provide Architectural, Planning and Design, Site/Civil Engineering, and Mechanical/Electrical Engineering services for the new addition and renovation project.

The site design of the new addition joined together multiple existing levels, including the provision of a connecting breezeway for gathering and circulation between the sanctuary and the new Pastor’s and Administrative offices, additional toilet rooms, and new classrooms. Parking levels were also integrated into the design of the addition.

ADA-compliant toilet room renovations, and upgrades to the daycare facility, the existing classrooms, and the social room, were also part of this project.

Parish House Addition

The Grace Lutheran Church Parish House addition was designed as an infill structure in a street of row houses, which created an appropriate transition between the large-scale elements of the existing church and the smaller scaled details of the adjoining residences.

The Parish House 4,920 square foot addition included a church office, library, classroom/meeting spaces, and conveniently-located restrooms. Muhlenberg Greene Architects provided Architectural, Planning & Design; Structural Engineering; and Mechanical/Electrical Engineering services.