The ROC, Richmond, Va.
by Jonathan McGaha | November 1, 2011 12:00 am
A 1960s-vintage grocery store that in later years became a flea market gained a new mission after undergoing an extensive reconstruction program recently that provided a needed venue for a growing, religious-based organization known as The ROC. In the process, the bornagain building could become the cornerstone in revitalization efforts for an inner-city neighborhood in Richmond, Va.
The non-traditional congregation drawn from multiple ministries initially met in a warehouse before acquiring a vacant church building that soon became too small to accommodate ROC services. Richmond-based architect Eric Hepler worked with Century Construction Co., a Richmond-based Butler Builder, and church leaders to develop the value-based conversion of the 121,000-square-foot building into the needed focal point for The ROC. Hepler’s plan produced a multiuse facility that can support religious services, as well as recreational basketball, auditorium, fitness center with a jogging track, café, offices, classrooms, bookstore and even a laundromat. The components are intended to serve a diverse congregation with youth outreach programs operating seven days a week and the twice-weekly services that attract approximately 2,900 in attendance.
To meet the mix of uses the original infrastructure underwent a significant facelift and expansion. To work as a basketball venue required raising the original 16-foot height of the roof to 24 feet and removing interior columns to produce enough unobstructed clear span space for three courts. Century Construction removed an 80-foot-wide section of the original roof and frontage to create a 39,600-square-foot L-shaped building within the wall lines of the existing structure’s footprint. The new construction created an inviting 81- by 83-foot foyer leading into what is now the 130- by 248-foot auditorium/sanctuary/gym. The basketball courts are lined with a Butler factory-insulated metal wall panels system that delivered an R-32 rating while enhancing the building’s professional concert-grade sound system. Salvaging 91,000 square feet of the original building achieved significant cost savings for the eventual $13.5-million adaptive reuse project.
Kansas City, Mo.-based Butler Manufacturing supplied a metal building system applied to the project that included a Widespan structural system and VSR II architectural standing seam metal roof system with a Red Butler-Cote Cool Roof coating.
Butler Manufacturing www.butlermfg.com
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/the-roc-richmond-va/