First Baptist Church
Naples, Florida

Project Type: New Construction
Seat Count: 2,600
Opening: November 2001
Architect: Schwab, Twitty, Hanser (STH)
Audio Install: Spectrum Sound
Video Install: MCSI
Lighting Install: TPS, Atlanta, Ga
AD Scope: Auditorium Design Assistance,
Acoustics, Audio, Video, Lighting

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First Baptist Naples is unique in that only 25% of its congregation comes from a Baptist background. Another unusual dynamic is that the size of its congregation varies dramatically depending on the season. Wall partitions that divide the room into thirds were designed to help the large worship space feel more intimate during the leaner seasons.

Diversity of worship is another unique feature of this church. There is a contemporary service on Saturday nights, while on Sunday morning the worship is blended with a more traditional style. Because the choir is so important to the congregation, a third projection screen was installed at the rear of worship center to allow the choir to view the video during the service. This turns the choir loft, which would normally be very bad seating, into seating that is just as good as being in the audience. Removable front rows were also installed in the choir loft to accommodate the church’s living Christmas tree.

Baptisms are also a priority, and occur at almost every service. Because of its importance, the baptistery was placed upstage-center, even though it is not ideal for choral acoustics.

First Baptist decided to make this new building an interim facility, so a rectangular room design was selected to keep construction costs down. A flat floor construction was chosen, which is not ideal for acoustics, so angled absorption was added around the entire perimeter to control reflections.

A Yamaha PM1D digital console is used at the front of the house for flexibility in mixing for different services.