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Supporting a rich tradition of choral, chamber, and organ music

St. Andrew Methodist Church in Plano, Texas, had a beautiful, traditionally-designed worship center created for choral and orchestral music. However, the church faced a unique challenge as its contemporary service began to outgrow its space in a different part of the campus. Rather than build a second sanctuary, the church wanted to bring the contemporary service into the main sanctuary without compromising the traditional service.

Modular digital elements create a virtual backdrop

In collaboration with GFF Architects, Salas O’Brien implemented environmental projection and LED lighting to transform the space while still highlighting the architecture. A modular LED wall that can be assembled and disassembled between services maintains the integrity of both worship experiences. Tightly controlled audio systems keep sound energy off of reflective surfaces so that amplified music is supported for the contemporary service while organ and choral music maintain the reverberant support required for an immersive unamplified experience.

Environmental projection transforms the space without compromising the traditional architecture

The church’s visual arts team creates on an immersive visual canvas each week designing experiences for worship. Technology allows the sanctuary to maintain the integrity of worship in a beautifully traditional space while fully supporting an immersive contemporary service. Most importantly, the church achieved their objective of worshipping together in the same space rather than building separate homes for traditional and contemporary services.

Photos: Dan Schoedel