Houston’s First Baptist purchased a 40,000 sf building as the new home for their downtown campus. The building and surface parking lot occupies an entire block of downtown. The building is clearly visible from a busy highway which presented a unique design opportunity to reach everyone who drives by the building through inventive treatment of the existing façade and signage.
During the design dive, the new campus was most frequently described as a place of light in the city. It became clear that the design needed to reach the millennial population of downtown and be architecturally inviting. Before the schematic design phase, Kirksey coordinated a feasibility study to evaluate existing conditions prior to HFBC proceeding with the purchase of the building. The interior design includes renovating the assembly hall into a flexible worship space seating up to 600 people, providing a welcome center and café, classrooms to accommodate preschoolers through adults, and church administrative offices alongside rentable office space. HFBC’s vision is to create a co-working space on the third floor for like-minded ministries and non-profit groups to work together to further their goals.