Elevate Studio Architecture Design

Earth Day 2024 - We need to do better!

Elevate is proud to have served as the architect for the recent expansion of the West Michigan Ronald McDonald House, which celebrated with a ribbon cutting last week. The project converted a former garage and house-mom apartment into 8 guest rooms and offices for 4 staff, allowing them to move from their basement offices up into the daylight. It was a great team effort with EV Construction and a fun and involved Owner team. There were a lot of difficult existing conditions (and low ceilings) to deal with! https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2024/03/ronald-mcdonald-house-25m-expansion-gives-families-more-rooms-more-love-for-care.html

We are excited to have received the green light on renovations to The People's Church of East Lansing. The project will be renovations to the worship center, including incorporating a new organ, accessibility, and finishes to the chancel, as well as renovations to the Social Hall, which will be used for Fellowship, more casual performances, smaller Taize worship services, and prayer/meditation.

A few things were lost in translation ;-) "Best Auditorium Design from the American Institute of Architects" (it was a local chapter design award) Still, it was a once-in-a-career opportunity for Elevate Studio to design a chapel/auditorium for a hospital in Bahrain, and the building is succeeding wildly. It has also just won the MENA Design Award for Best HealthCare Facility built in 2023 in all of the Middle East and North Africa region. https://www.zawya.com/en/business/healthcare/new-american-mission-hospital-in-bahrain-opens-to-public-tqin5vxz

Did anyone else capture the otherworldly sunrise today? A local photographer got this shot of the pond at Ball Perkins Park 😍

Photo by on Instagram

Elevate Christmas Lunch 2023 at Little Bird. So much to be thankful for this year! Mary's last hurrah before joining GRPS full time.

The dining deck at Camp Echo is coming along nicely. Next summer, hundreds of campers every week will have their meals here, with the best view in all of Newaygo County!

Elevate Studio welcomes project architect Susan Arnold. Susan is a registered architect who has experience working for several firms in the Boston area, took time off to raise twin daughters to school age, and has re-entered the design world. She loves completing construction drawings. Susan served in the Peace Corps in Panama. Now, she enjoys running, doing crafts with her girls, and exploring nature. Welcome, Susan!

Welcome to our summer Intern, Sarah Konyndyk! Sarah has finished her 2nd year at Alfred State College (SUNY) in New York.

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/after-9-days-of-renovations-the-green-well-is-back/

Proud to partner with Essence Group (Owner), Centurion Construction (Contractor), the Image Shoppe (Marketing/Branding), and LeedSourceGroup (Furniture) on the redesign of The Green Well! The Owner wanted a warm, relaxed, upscale/updated take on the classic diner while complementing an existing mural by Jasmine Bruce. Enjoy!

After 9 days of renovations, the Green Well is back It only took nine days for the Green Well to get up and running again after what its owners called “a complete overhaul.”

Here is a nice write-up from a client's denominational magazine about one of our recent AIA award-winning projects, Monroe Community Church in Grand Rapids, MI.

Michigan Church Honored for Hosting Art Festival, Building Design The Official Magazine of the Christian Reformed Church

In our inbox Friday afternoon:

"From the very first meeting with Elevate Studio, we knew Steve and Mike were exceptional. It was a complete pleasure to work with them. They listened—to our needs, our wants, and our dreams. They studied our building. They spent countless hours meeting with members of our congregation and our ministry teams. They were patient with us and open to our many questions and to changes
we asked for. Then, they delivered. The final plan that was created for our very outdated and complicated church building was beyond our expectations. They found a great solution for every one of our challenges. And beyond that, the plan is beautiful. Our building team would highly recommend Elevate Studio to any prospective client."

We are proud and gratified to be able to share that our project, Monroe Community Church, was awarded a 2022 Small Commercial Building Design Award by the American Institute of Architects Grand Rapids Chapter. This labor of love was one of 2 projects that bridged the pandemic, when a dozen or so of our projects went on hold. What is miraculous is that the final design, vision-casting, capital campaign, project buy-in, and construction all occurred while MCC did not meet in-person from March 2020 through June 2021. Careful messaging, timely emailed newsletters, lots of zoom meetings, and construction walkthrough tours after zoom worship services were useful tools to keep momentum going for the congregation, which is one of the most resilient we have encountered. Soon after they occupied the building in August 2021, attendance was higher than before the pandemic.

Lovely

Rural Retreat: 7 Religious Sanctuaries Found Far From Urban Space - Architizer Journal Religious buildings are spaces designed to create separation from the busy outside world. What happens when the site itself is a calm place that promotes spiritual connection, and how can architects and design elevate that peacefulness without disrupting the natural serenity?

Excited to see our project for Neland Church coming together!

We are enjoying a departure from church ministry design with this dining deck for a YMCA camp in Fremont, MI. Not that ministry doesn't happen here; a temple for dining, in the trees.

Renovations and Additions at Neland Avenue CRC. The lobby is designed to be a "front porch" to the community. There are a lot of barrier-free improvements, too.

Merry Christmas to our friends, colleagues, partners, consultants, and especially our clients, who entrust us with their vision. The image this year features a stable, based upon the prayer alcove designed and built by the Elevate Studio team as a gift to Monroe Community Church.

Merry Christmas from Elevate Studio! With Flint Sackett, Steve Fridsma, Andrea VanderMolen, Jim VanderMolen, Mary Fridsma, Mike McKinnon, and Ethan Sims

So grateful for this opportunity as well:

"As a pastor it has been my experience that church building projects are often a double-edged sword. These projects have the potential to revitalize well-worn space, create fresh energy for ministry, and embolden vision. However, church building projects are also known to frustrate relationships and create personal conflicts. This is why it takes a special kind of wisdom and skill to bring out the best in a church and their building project while working to minimize the pitfalls. Elevate Studio exceeded our expectations every step of the way. For us at Monroe Community Church, it was the people, the process, and the final product that impressed us the most."

"We can’t say enough about the people at Elevate Studio. Every single staff person we met was wonderful to work with. Their sensitivity, respectfulness, creativity, patience, and innovation were inspiring. What amazed us most is that the staff of Elevate Studio designed, donated, and built a prayer alcove to our building project! This example of generosity was above and beyond every expectation."

"We can’t say enough about the process Elevate Studio used with our church community. The Congregational Workshop that helped us discern and identify our key values was very effective and quite frankly, brilliantly thought out. I think this part of the process benefited our community the most. But there is much more. The way they helped us organize work teams for the project, their communication with all the different vendors and contractors and volunteers, as well as their helpful insights for things like fundraising were outstanding."

"Lastly, we can’t say enough about the final product. The space we get to worship and serve and build relationships in is absolutely breathtaking. Every guest who walks through the door seems to comment on how welcoming, captivating, and hospitable the space feels. I don’t know how they were able to do it, but they took an old industrial building and transformed it into a life-giving spiritual home for the community. We are so grateful for the work of Elevate Studio."

Rev. Jim Boer
Monroe Community Church
Love God, Love People, Love the City

(With GDK Construction, ROI Design, Wave Solutions, and Comprehensive Engineering.)

We LOVE getting these types of letters...

"In 2019 Christ Church initiated a fund-raising campaign we called Extending Community Enabling Mission after conducting a feasibility study to assess potential funding available for facility expansion to support a growing ministry. Christ Church engaged Elevate Studio to be the architect for our 2020 building expansion project based on their significant experience working with churches to create and expand facilities used for ministry. Elevate Studio’s partnership with us began by facilitating a values workshop where a multigenerational group from the church used Elevate Studio’s defined process and supplied tools to identify the church’s values and desired outcomes for the project. After learning about the church in this way Elevate Studio began their work to learn about our existing facility and develop the concepts for the expansion that supported the values and outcomes developed in the workshop."

"The resulting design captured the essence of Christ Church ministry and history, achieved the goals to support future ministries, and supported our desire to glorify God through this project and the resulting facility updates and expansion. We were offered new and innovative ways to address existing facility limitations and offered new spaces for ministry expansion that fully integrated with the existing building design and structure."

"The facility updates and expansion completed in September 2021 supports the values of the church, provides the functionality desired, and in many ways exceeds what was hoped for. Elevate Studio assisted us with the selection of a construction management company that shared the desire to support church ministry and glorify God. They brought the skilled trades to the project and coordinated the ex*****on of the design to bring to life the vision that had started back in 2019. We are praising God each week as we use the expanded facility with the community, having been enabled and encouraged in the church’s mission to spread the Gospel. It has been amazing to see how God provided in so many ways for His work through donors, designers, project managers, skilled tradesmen, and faithful members of the body of Christ to complete this work."

"Elevate Studio was the key partner and motivating force that allowed Christ Church to complete this project after three previous attempts had not produced any results."

Rick Groggel
Christ Church Project Chair

Our most recently finished project, Monroe Community Church, was featured in the ArtPrize kickoff from Fox 17 this year! Architect Steve Fridsma, a member of the church, also served as the leader of the curation team and the install team.

22 ArtPrize pieces on display at Monroe Community church You can use your phone to purchase pieces from ArtPrize this year

Another elevate studio project about to be finished. It's so cool to see the rendering from a year ago and then see the project take shape.

On July 1, 2006, the seed of what would become Elevate Studio was planted with the incorporation of J VanderMolen, Architect Inc. We have been blessed these 15 years with talented and committed colleagues, like-minded collaborators, trusting and inspiring clients, and a faithful God who inspired our vision of a relational, missional practice that aligns our personal, professional, and faith lives. In celebration of this milestone, we donated our labor to construct a prayer alcove at our latest project, Monroe Community Church in Grand Rapids. Take a look!

Mike and Flint cutting and sanding the ceiling clouds for the coffee service and prayer areas at Monroe Community Church.