WFX Awards » Solomon Awards » Best Building Contractor

Nominee: Cogun, Inc.

Project: Athens Church

URL: www.cogun.com
          www.athenschurch.com

Size: 801-2000 seats

Date Completed: 5-May-11

Description:

A young church seeks their first permanent facility for growing a church family.  That was the case for Athens Church, a Strategic Partner of North Point Ministries in Atlanta, GA.  The church, which started in 2005, began holding their weekly services at a local high school.  However, soon needed more space and switched their location to the Classic Center in Athens, near the University of Georgia.  As the church continued to grow, the staff began to see the need for a permanent facility with more space to fit their emerging ministries.

Cogun was chosen on day one to partner with the leadership team in guiding them through the renovation project.  The church purchased an 110,000 sq. ft., former Walmart/Steve & Barry’s, to transform it into their new home.  The former Walmart sat on 11 acres of land, in a busy part of town, and offered plenty of parking.  Cogun coached the leadership through the selection of the architectural firm, Neal Prince and Partners, an important step in the process.  They also worked alongside the church and the architect to develop a budget for the project, and developed a design within that budget to meet their ministry needs. Because the primary concern was square footage, the team had a very limited budget for the exterior of the building and front entrance.  Cogun worked hard with the architect to provide a cost sensitive solution that matched the culture of the church.

The total 110,000 sq. ft. facility was master planned into two phases.  Phase one, 45,188 sq. ft., includes ministry space for preschoolers (Wamba Land), Elementary age children (UpStreet), Jr. High (Transit) and High School students (Inside Out), as well as office space, small group space and a 1,265 seat worship center.  The church wanted a simple design that would allow people to see the entrance to each ministry area and the sanctuary within 40 ft. of the front door.  This allows less confusion for new attendees who do not know the facility.  Also, the hallways were designed with a generous amount of space to promote connection before and after services.  Phase two was designed for future expansion as additional space for some of the Children’s ministries along with a new 800 seat auditorium.

Cogun was able to produce a big time job with a small town feel, and also was able to complete this large scale project in a short amount of time.  By focusing on regular communication with the church and creating healthy tension between the church, architect, and contractor, the project was completed in only six months and avoided any major problems.  This allowed Athens to establish their first permanent worship space quicker and continue reaching people for the Lord.