Hope Chapel

South Shore Recording

McLean Bible Church
 

Traders Point Christian

Church of Our Saviour
 

 

 

     McLean Bible Church (MBC) is an outreach oriented, evangelical Christian megachurch that has had an expanding contemporary ministry in the Washington D.C.area for over 30 years.  To facilitate the church's rapid growth in 1998, the church purchased a 52 acre sites with a 232,000 sq. foot facility from the National Wildlife Federation in Vienna, Virginia.  Their plan was to remodel a portion of the existing building to satisfy the congregation's immediate space needs while beginning the design of a new worship auditorium.

 

 

     Sound Investment Enterprises (SIE) was hired as their technical adviser to oversee the design and installation of the audio, lighting, and video systems for the building's phase 1 remodeling.  This extensive remodeling process created a 1,200 seat auditorium, a video production control room, and various multipurpose meeting rooms, classrooms, and administrative offices. 

 

     During the remodeling, the SIE design team worked closely with the architect and their engineers to optimize the auditorium's acoustics, control noise from the HVAC system, and fine tune the plans for circulation, storage, and production systems within the backstage and technical production areas.  SIE also collaborated with the church's production and worship staff to master plan the phase 1 and 2 technical systems for the entire facility.  A Technical Systems Master Plan was developed which identified the appropriate infrastructure components for the electrical, mechanical, and structural systems which were integrated into the phase 1 construction documents. 

 

     SIE designed the sound, lighting, and media presentation systems and prepared all of the documentation for the church to get bids from local A/V installers.  We also provided the technical coordination of the A/V systems installation during the construction and completed the final sign-off inspections once the installations were completed.

 

 Some of the technical and staging features in the phase 1 auditorium include...

• an extensive catwalk layout accessing stage lighting, video projection, speaker arrays, and structural rigging points
• an operable stage wall system that reconfigures the stage's size and appearance
• variable acoustic stage panels optimized for a wide range of acoustical events
• acoustically isolated backstage wall
• a 5.1 LCR speaker system
• a dual stage monitoring system incorporating IEM monitoring and conventional floor wedges
• separate sound consoles for the front of house, stage monitoring, and video control room
• a video control room for audio recording along with video editing, control, and campus video distribution
• a computerized lighting control system with distributed DMX control distribution
• 192 dimmable lighting circuits distributed about the auditorium
• a wide assortment of conventional and robotic lighting fixtures
• three rear projection audience screens for graphics and I.Mag presentation
• a rear projection stage-cue video screen
• multiple video camera connection points positioned about the auditorium and stage
• multiple rigging points over stage and seating for touring road shows and concerts
• isolated a/v tech power with off-stage 400 amp "touring power" disconnect
• oversized back-of-stage loading door with truck dock and ramp.

 

 

      WORSHIP CENTER

      McLean Bible Church has a long history of producing major events with technical excellence.  Continuing this tradition became the design mandate during the final construction phase when a 2,400 seat worship center, several large event meeting rooms, a gymnasium, a choir-orchestra-dance rehearsal suite, recording studio, and video production and editing control rooms were built. 

 

     SIE worked with the architectural design team to create an acoustically sophisticated worship auditorium that could function as a major performing arts and concert venue.  Our collaboration with MBC's creative arts and production staff resulted in an extensive infrastructure design plan that would allow the audio, theatrical lighting, and video presentation systems to support any event conceived by their ministry team.  By example, the 90' wide by 70' deep stage incorporate multiple curtain positions that give the stage multiple "looks".  In addition the curtains create space for up to three 24' wide rear projection screens that can be position across the stage.

 

    Because the Worship Center was designed to function like a performing arts facility, there are dozens of functions and equipment spaces provided to support the church's events.  Here are some of the more prominent technical and staging features...

• an extensive catwalk layout over the audience and stage that provide access to stage lighting, video projection, speaker arrays, and structural rigging points
• a flexible curtain system that allows integration of video projection displays into the staging and provides extensive reconfiguring of the stage's size and appearance
• an acoustically isolated backstage wall
• a 5.1 LCR concert level speaker system
• a dual stage monitoring system incorporating IEM monitoring and conventional floor wedges
• separate sound consoles for the front of house, on-stage monitoring, and video production
• multiple control rooms for audio recording, video editing, control, and internet streaming
• a multi-channel intercom system allowing simultaneous and private conversations between stage production, lighting, audio, and video teams
• a computerized lighting control system with distributed DMX control distribution
• 384 dimmable lighting circuits distributed about the auditorium
• a wide assortment of conventional and robotic lighting fixtures
• twelve rear projection audience screens for graphics and I.Mag presentation
• two stage-cue video projection displays
• multiple video camera connection points positioned about the auditorium and stage
• audio, video, and data connections interconnecting the 1,200 seat auditorium with the Worship Center
• multiple rigging points over stage and seating for touring road shows and concerts
• isolated a/v tech power with off-stage 400 amp "touring power" disconnect
• oversized back-of-stage loading door with truck dock and ramp
• back-of-house prop and staging storage rooms
• stage freight elevator to move equipment between basement rehearsal rooms and the stage