Clear Creek Community Church just celebrated the opening of a new 1,000-seat auditorium-style worship space complete with specialized acoustical and systems designs. Plans also call for future expansion of the room to 2,200 seats.

An artist rendering of the new Clear Creek sanctuary

The new auditorium for the fast-growing church, located in League City, TX was designed by PBK Architects of nearby Houston. PBK in turn contracted Acoustic Dimensions of Dallas to supply design work for both acoustics and sound, video and lighting systems.

OneSource of Houston provided the audio and video system installation, while Stagelight handled the theatrical lighting system install. A full list of equipment for the project is included below.

For both PBK Architects and Acoustic Dimensions the key component of the project was having a solid understanding of the client. "Clear Creek Community Church has clear direction on who they are and who they are trying to reach," commented Robert Rose, the team lead for Acoustic Dimensions. "Because they were effective in communicating their identity to the design team, developing a design to support their ministry was a very straightforward process."

"Our church is a community of small groups. It is very important that people feel connected," explained Lowell Ballew, the Worship and Arts Minister for Clear Creek. “This design parameter had a huge impact on the design of the auditorium and the shaping of the seating area.

"Immediately we noticed the layout of the seating. You can sit on one side of the room and see people on the other side of the room. There is a visual connection," Ballew added.

A look at the acoustical treatment on the back wall

The acoustics also contributes to fostering connection within the room. Acoustic Dimensions designed reflective surfaces in the ceiling so that reverberant energy reflects back into the congregation. The result is a sense of community when people are singing and clapping.

"Because the church uses mostly amplified music, we specified a great deal of absorptive material on the back walls and toward the back of the ceiling," said Ron Eligator, the lead acoustician on the project. "However, we didn't want a room that was completely absorptive. Too much absorption is like worshipping in a vacuum-it feels dead.