Mariners Church
Irvine, California
Seat Count: 3,200
Project Type: New Construction
Opening: October 2005
Architect: DeRevere & Associates
Audio Install: CCI Solutions
AD Scope: Auditorium Design, Acoustics,
Audio, Video, Lighting
Mariners Church in Irvine, California, constructed a new worship facility to accommodate explosive growth. The auditorium is assymetrical in design with a flat main floor and terrace seating at the rear. The windows designed to bring in the California sun feature blackout screens to block light when video is in use. The exposed ceiling is painted blue which will allow performance technologies to “disappear” while still reflecting light. There are three video screens....two flanking the stage and one behind the stage for environmental video. The theatrical lighting includes almost exclusively motorized fixtures, and the audio system is a high-powered line array system.
Working within the simple rectangular envelope, the challenge for Acoustic Dimensions (AD) was to create a worship center that would truly support the uniqueness of the church. “There were characteristics of Mariners that were pivotal drivers in the choices made for the room. The first is that the energy and enthusiasm at Mariners is a tangible thing. The room needed to support that,” explains Craig Janssen of AD. “The second is that Mariners is about connection. When Kenton Beshore [senior pastor] is standing on the platform, he needs visual connection to every person in the room. Horizontal connection both visually and aurally was important for the congregation. The third thing is that the music teams and the technical teams are wildly creative and very tight. There is a level of excellence to the worship and technologies at Mariners that made the layout of the room and the relationships of the technical positions as significant as the design of the systems.”
The acoustics of the room were designed so that there is an aural sense of excitement when you walk into the space. “One of the benefits of getting to design the acoustics and audio systems together is that you can control the parameters so that one supports the other,” says Robert Rose, project manager for AD. “The acoustics were designed to give the congregation a sense of others worshipping around them without losing the sense of intimacy of the spoken word from the platform.”
AD designed lapendary panels on the ceiling, wall treatments and perimeter ceiling elements with absorption on top to reduce volume. In addition, they worked on noise and vibration control for the HVAC systems so that the room is quiet. “It is a big room,” says Van Metschke, Mariners’ audio engineer. “Our previous Worship Center has a very controlled, intimate sound. A bit uneven, but more a feel of being in a theatre. Our new space is way more like a concert venue. People feel they are a part of something. Almost like a crusade….you feel part of something big. We have received an immense amount of compliments about the experience.”
In addition to aural energy in the space, the lighting systems are designed to create visual energy. The lighting at Mariners is done by a very talented team—many who work professionally in live production. Resident lighting designer, Kevin Sorg, works with technical director, Ken Robertson, to create dramatic images and moods throughout the service.
Since the space has a flat main floor, they chose not to build catwalks, but rather save the money and use in other parts of the project. This allowed them to purchase a large number of motorized fixtures. Since few conventional fixtures were used, a traditional system with racks of dimming was not necessary or cost effective. A hybrid system combined a conventional dimming rack for the architectural lighting fixtures with distributed dimming bars / packs for the small compliment of conventional fixtures.
“The lighting system is fairly simple and straightforward--power and control,” explains Russell Reid of AD. “The concept was to minimize racks and maximize flexibility.
Energy wasn’t the only design goal. A more significant design goal was that of connection. Visual connection was achieved through careful design of the seating layout. Forty percent of the seating layout is on a flat floor while the other sixty percent is terraced on three sides. There is a thrust stage that the seating wraps around, allowing speakers to engage with the congregation.
“Acoustic Dimensions did several renderings from the same location to show the value of the thrust (over a smaller thrust with steps) to allow the pastor and worship team to connect with the audience,” adds Janssen. “We did extensive computer modeling studies on the seating areas until there was strong visual connection to the platform and across the room to the other people worshipping around you.”
“One of the best parts of the Mariners project is that we had worked with Ken Robertson before on the Saddleback project. Not only did we trust Ken’s technical expertise, but we also know Ken to be an incredible builder of teams. Every decision he made on the project was about supporting his technical staff and getting the right tools for the culture of the church,” adds Janssen.
An interesting choice of gear by Metschke was the decision for an analog console over a digital model. A separate audio mixing suite is used primarily as a feed for weekly CD’s DVD’s of the service. “There is a high value for people being able to immediately get a CD of the service, the suite gives us the capability to do this with a certain level quality,” adds Metschke.
“The success of the project has a lot more to do with the team at Mariners and the way they use the space than the building itself. They did a good job of communicating who they were to the design team and the team translated those goals into the design,” relays Janssen.
“The room really supports the church’s style. It engages. It connects. I’m pretty excited about the role we played in that,” Rose concludes.
