First Baptist Church Jacksonville LMA Renovation

Video Transcript:

Michael Janaskie (Principal, Novus Architects): This is a very unique building. It was designed in the early 70s and has sort of that uplifting, almost Disney-esque feel to it where there's unique curves and shapes.

Coty Hoskins (Executive Pastor, First Baptist Church Jacksonville): When we made the decision to move our auditorium back to the Lindsay Memorial Auditorium, one of the most significant realities of that decision was the fact that we had to do things on the exterior envelope of the building. When it came to the facade, there were two primary issues that we were seeking to address.

The first was the obvious fact that we had water intrusion. If you're going to invest money inside the building, you've got to sure-up the envelope to ensure you don't damage what you just did. The second, though, was we have always been a part of Downtown and always want to be a part of downtown. We wanted to make sure that we are a part of the growth and development that's happening downtown.

M.J.: We envisioned a look that honored the prior design for the building, but yet also to bring it into a modern feel, and still have a timeless quality to it. As we looked at the theme of the project, we felt like the main function was the church’s worship, and how do we communicate the worship sense to the City of Jacksonville from the outside when what's going on inside is not visible to most people. So how do we communicate a bit of inspiration, uplifting feel and a sense of sky.

C.H.: Where the design team was really helpful to us is in choosing how to layer the product in such a way that it created the look we were going for. it was through this back-and-forth process that the design team revealed what is now on the facade.

M.J.: As we considered the final product for this project, the STENI panels had just a wonderful aesthetic and proven performance - that made it almost a no brainer.

C.H.: All feedback that we've gotten from both the church and community is a lot of excitement about the facade and honestly, just a lot of gratitude that we are committed to making downtown a better place.

And I'll say there were two really necessary things in order to cross the finish line, and the first is actually related to our people. We needed our people to give; and their kindness, and in the kindness of God the finances were there - even in the midst of a pandemic - to do this project.

But the second reality is that we had a short timeline, we had the pressure of delays and supply chain disruptions and so we needed the team – Architects, and GC, and us - to work really well together, and it took us working well together to make this project happen and I'm really thankful for everybody who played a role in that.