Brentwood Baptist Church
Brentwood, Tennessee
Project Type: New Construction
Seat Count: 2,400
Opening: June 2002
Architect: HH Architects
Audio Installation: Spectrum Sound
Video Installation: MCSI
Lighting Installation: Bradfield Stage Lighting
AD Scope: Auditorium Design, Acoustics,
Audio, Video and Lighting
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Brentwood Baptist Church, located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the first churches that AD has designed a 16X9 digital video format. This format will enable the church to obtain broadcast news clips easily for use in their services; as well as, enable important events occurring at their church to be filmed and submitted to news stations.
The video system is being installed in phases. Upon initial opening, the video consisted of a single camera, switching and source equipment located at the front-of-house control booth. All wiring is routed through a dedicated production room, which allows them to expand their video ministry as funds become available. The church anticipates purchasing additional cameras and moving into the video production room within a year.
Balancing the acoustical needs in the worship center was a challenge. Services at Brentwood combine features of a traditional Southern Baptist church with an evolving contemporary worship style. This includes preaching, organ music, praise and worship soloists, congregational participation as well as a large choir and orchestra.
An ideal building for preaching is acoustically dead, which allows the audience to hear each spoken word clearly. Orchestras and choirs need the opposite - an acoustically live room that will reflect the music into the seating area giving it a full sound. To insure both of these acoustical characteristics at Brentwood, AD maximized direct sound energy from the speech reinforcement system while controlling the reverberant sound energy. At the same time, we carefully designed the room boundaries by optimizing sightlines as well as wall and ceiling shaping, allowing judicious use and distribution of sound absorptive material. This enabled us to create an environment that supports the pastor as well as the musicians.
