McLean Bible Church — New Construction, Extension, and Addition

Project Details

Owner: McLean Bible Church
8925 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA
Contract Amount: $24,605,450
Date of Award: April 30, 2003
Date of Completion: June 22, 2004

Photo Photo

Tompkins/Grunley Joint Venture constructed a new two-story addition to the existing McLean Bible Church in Vienna, VA. The addition includes a new state-of-the-art 2,500 seat auditorium; a gymnasium; classrooms; community centers for meetings and receptions; a center for clothes to be dropped off and dispersed to the needy; and a 382,830 SF precast parking garage, connecting to the west side of the addition via a precast concrete pedestrian bridge.

Originally labeled as a church addition, this project evolved into its own base building effort. The theater bowl construction consisted of cast in place concrete and precast concrete risers. Precise coordination between the auditorium seats and floor diffusers situated in the concrete bowls was necessary to provide airflow to the auditorium. The auditorium ceiling consists of radius points that were used for constructability, and were required to meet the overall semi-circle design of the building.

As sound acoustics was one of the key elements of this project, the design team arranged acoustical panels along the interior auditorium walls for sound absorption, while at the same time intergrading anigre wood strips which formed crosses in between wood panels to provide a church ambiance. Extensive millwork was used for the upper level lobby. Sound plenums were designed and constructed underneath the auditorium bowl, since the lower level had youth activity rooms. Ductwork was installed in these plenums to transfer airflow into the spaces below and through to the air diffusers installed underneath the auditorium seats. This design assisted in silencing airflow noise. The heating and air conditioning for the auditorium is provided by means of forced air through plenums located underneath the concrete or precast slab. There are approximately eight-inch (8″) diameter holes that were cast in the concrete to align underneath the seating for airflow. This design helps to maintain the acoustics of the space. The skin of the building consisted of precast, brick veneer, EIFS, and curtain wall systems.