Have you ever tried to cook something without a recipe? Starting from scratch, maybe a rough idea of ingredients, but not really sure how much to include or the necessary steps to take? And then you realise it’s going to take much longer than anticipated…
Well, that’s a little bit like what we at SAP have experienced with our new greenfields church builds. To date, we have begun the design process from scratch each time we’ve built a new church. While the result has been some amazing, unique and beautiful designs, the process has also been very time consuming and resource intensive.
And given that the Diocese needs to deliver around one new church every year for the next thirty years to keep pace with Sydney’s rapid growth, it’s important we get the recipe right.
Enter SAP’s new secret ingredient: ‘The Nucleus Design’!
Jonathan Kerr, SAP’s Manager, Greenfields shares, “The Nucleus Design is a standard, yet modular design template, that will enable us to deliver more churches, more quickly and for less money than if we were starting from scratch every time.
“We’ve taken the learnings from the past decade of church building projects in the greenfields and incorporated them into an approach that is also flexible to the needs of each new church.
“The guidelines set out the size, specification and siting consideration for new church buildings and have been developed to ensure the ministry space provided is the same as previous projects. But the design is internally configurable to respond to parish needs, and can accommodate future expansion where needed – all with the aim of being quicker and cheaper to deliver than it would otherwise.”
Why nucleus?
The nucleus of a cell manages the future growth and carries the genetic material needed for multiplication. Similarly, the Nucleus Design process provides a way of multiplying church buildings in the greenfields while also managing the future growth and development of a parish.
The Nucleus Design is a ‘base design’ that not only delivers high quality ministry spaces with simplicity, affordability, constructability in mind, but which also emphasises the importance of good stewardship.
“We have seen the cost of new churches increase to the point where it would be unreasonable to expect donors to simply fill the breach,” Mr Kerr says.
“Instead, this innovative approach will continue to provide a high quality outcome, but at a cost that early modelling suggests will be 20-30% lower than for previous greenfields churches. That’s pretty exciting.
“Considering the need for more churches across the greenfields, the Nucleus Design represents a combination of being wise with the resources we have while also providing great ministry spaces for all those who visit our churches, as well as space to grow!”
SAP Chief Executive Officer, Ross Jones, agrees, “We see the Nucleus Design as an example of good stewardship. Rather than accepting escalating costs for constructing new churches, we’ve collaborated with constructors and designers to provide the same ministry spaces at a lower cost with more flexibility.
“At SAP, we are hugely grateful for the funds received from various sources to provide these great places for people to meet Jesus. As stewards of these funds, we are always looking for ways to optimise their allocation to have the maximum impact for the Gospel.”
The current benefits of the Nucleus Design include:
- Reduced design lead-in times when the design is applied to a new site.
- Potential for reduced consultant fees as elements of technical reports can be adapted.
- Modular internal configuration is adaptable and responsive to parish needs.
- Unlikely to attract future heritage status listing and the associated constraints for future generations.
The Nucleus Design has been developed to get local parishes, rectors, church planters, consultants, bishops and the Architectural Panel on the same page when it comes to the design and provision of new churches in the greenfields. It has been developed through consultation with selected architects and building contractors.
What does the nucleus involve?
There are seven key design principles that contribute to a well-functioning and fit-for-purpose greenfield church.
| Consideration | Description |
| Simple, people oriented design | The church buildings exist not as a grand monument but to serve and support the local church. A ‘good’ Nucleus Design is one that provides the buildings and property to enable the local church to enact their local ministry and evangelism plan. |
| Sense of welcome and hospitality enabling | To warmly welcome outsiders (Hebrews 13:2) and to love the current church members (Galatians 6:10), the building design should provide a sense of welcome. This may include easily identifiable entry points, clear signage and wayfinding, a warm reception aesthetic and suitable lightingoptions. |
| Acoustic clarity | The hearing of the preached word (Romans 10:17) is central to church gatherings and the building design ought to consider the acoustic quality and clarity of the auditorium as a core consideration. |
| Presence to the local community | In addition to accommodating the existing church, the Nucleus Design also intends to be ‘turned out’ toward the world. Design elements should be wary of inadvertently creating a ‘fortress’ feel. Ideally, these buildings will also be used by various local community groups and for events/programs that serve the broader parish population. |
| Safe Ministry principles | The Office of the Director of Safe Ministry has a ‘Safe Ministry Blueprint for Churches‘ which includes a checklist for the physical safety of children through design of buildings (Section 2.4.1). This checklist should be addressed in the design and layout of Nucleus Designs. |
| Accessibility | Greenfield Churches must comply with the Sydney Diocesan Services (SDS) resource ‘Everyone welcome: Accessible church for all‘. These guidelines aim to eliminate the barriers that prevent people with disability from participating in the full life of the church. |
| Crime PreventionThrough Environmental Design (CPTED) | To care for the safety of all people using the site, the CPTED design principles should be considered in the planning, design and management of Greenfield church sites. The principles include activation, passive surveillance, ownership, legibility, access management, vulnerability, territoriality and site maintenance. |
Following these design principles, the guidelines go on to outline siting considerations, internal space allocations, external element allocations, internal specifications, external specifications, structural principles, and circumstances where adjustments may be required.
Where to from here?
Sydney Anglican Property will pilot this approach on the new site at Marsden Park in Sydney’s north-west.
Senior Pastor at Marsden Park Mark Collins shares, “The Nucleus Design is everything we need in a church in the initial growth phase from planting to becoming an established church in the area.
“For Marsden Park that means a large enough auditorium where we can double the size of our current services, ample and flexible kids and youth spaces, a large parents rooms (Marsden Park has the highest number of those under 5 as a percentage of population in NSW) and, for our multicultural members, a large kitchen to prepare wonderful food from around the world.
“SAP have listened and investigated past designs to come up with best practice for a church not only now but, God willing, when the population doubles in the future as it’s predicted to do by 2050.
“Most importantly all of this can be achieved at a lower cost and with a quicker build time than other buildings which have been built in greenfields areas in the last 10 years.
“Well done SAP and our partners Reistma (builder) and Sustainable Development Group (project management). Our church is looking forward to starting the construction phase and seeing this wonderful design become a reality.”
For more details on the Nucleus Design, be sure to visit our SAP stall at the Western Sydney Ministry Expo being held at Synod in the Greenfields on Sat 14 August. We’ll have plenty to show you!