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One of our first steps after signing the lease for 529 Van Ness was to find the right architect to lead us through the design process for our campus. After our Planning Team met with several candidates, one firm was the front runner from the very beginning: Visioneering Studios. Visioneering Studios is a national design/build firm that has a passion for providing architectural and design services for the church. From our very first meetings with them, we could tell they had brought not only a wealth of expertise and knowledge about the unique nature of church building projects, but a love for the mission of Christ’s church.
We are currently in what Visioneering calls “Basecamp.” This is the first step of the overall design process that is meant to produce a Master Plan, or a high-level conceptual layout for the campus. This Master Plan sets the course for the rest of the design and construction process, and it is the next puzzle to solve before we can submit for our Conditional Use Permit from the city.
In order for Visioneering to come up with a plan to best utilize our expanded campus, they are working hard to really understand who we are as a church: what our mission and vision are, what our culture is, how our church family lives day to day, and how we hope God may use us in the future.
Several of our Planning Team members got to share this with Visioneering when we headed to their Santa Ana offices to meet with Bob Bergmann, Visioneering’s Director of Design and the principal designer on our project.
You. Will. Love. Bob. Before we shared our story with him, he shared his with us. Bob has been in the architecture world for decades, doing design and planning for some of the biggest companies on the biggest scale. But God called him to leave that world behind to use his gifts and abilities to support gospel ministry. He is a faithful brother in Christ who loves Jesus and his church.
After showing us around Visioneering’s very cool office (they’re ping pong people and puzzle people!), we sat down with Bob and their Studio Manager Tony to pray, to discuss our CUP application, and to begin to brainstorm building layout. Bob was such a humble, knowledgeable, skilled guide through these discussions, and he demonstrated a truly expert understanding of the architectural needs, as well as a humble heart of service. We don’t have anything definitive to share, but we are excited by the possibilities!
As our Basecamp continues to ramp up, Visioneering’s next step will be to hold focus group meetings in October with some of our leaders so they can continue to see and hear firsthand what life at Lighthouse is really like. We are so excited to share with our partners at Visioneering about all that God has done in our church, and we can’t wait to see how Visioneering can help us tell that story in our new campus. God-willing, they will reveal the final master plan with us in mid-November, which will allow us to take next steps in our CUP application.
