The Highlands Church

The Highlands is created to serve families and community first! In the chaos of 2020, The Highlands took a leap of faith to plan a new 400-seat auditorium church building at the crossroads of a growing city, to serve as a lively place for the individuals and families in the surrounding community. Our team partnered with The Highlands Church to develop a vision-centered and cost-effective phased Master Plan that capitalizes on the unique narrow site constraints. The plan carefully phases building growth, outdoor spaces and connections to the community path system, starting with a corner-facing “Front Porch” that welcomes church and community families with interior and exterior gathering spaces, comfortable seating all centered around a double-faced fireplace at the heart of their new facility. The Highland’s “Future-Proof” layout, utilizes strategic structural systems, and materials that allows the facility to efficiently and effectively grow into its site and community. Budget constraints prioritized flexible, shared use meeting rooms for secure Kids groups on Sunday that also function for weekday meeting rooms for students, staff and community groups. While staff office space was minimized to maximize space for guests. The open layout, connections to the exterior, strategic use of neutral and natural materials intertwined with bold fresh graphics allows for graceful way finding and intentionally creates a place where visitors of all generations feel comfortable, safe and welcome.