St. David's Episcopal Church
Ashburn, VA

Orientation Visit
Existing church wins architectural awards, but fails to meet minimum acoustical and audio requirements.

.St. David's Episcopal Church has won architectural awards from The Potomac Valley Chapter of the AIA, Maryland Society AIA and Faith and Form Magazine / Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA). However, we were hired because the sanctuary did not meet the minimum acoustial performance required by the current staff and congregation (June of 2005). A local contractor was hired to complete the recommended acoustical work; they also provided tinting to the windows.

These photos do not show the current acoustical work, video projection system or audio system.

Above - The sanctuary is "T-shaped", with the two ends of the "T" being used for the choir and congregational seating. The roof slope is backward, from an acoustical standpoint, and the vast number of windows (seen below) forces video projection to be ruled our, or become expensive to implement at an acceptable level.

Above - View from the foyer into the sanctuary.

Above - The ceiling trusses are shaped like airplane wings.

Above - The baptismal also functions as a fountain. (Behind the plant are steps into the tank.)

Above & Below - A left-to-right pan across the seating when standing on the platform.

Jim Tracy, the General Manager, provided this comment after the project: "Blake and Dave did an excellent job both in the analysis and in the report and its presentation.  Count us as one of your fans."