August

2022

Newsletter

From Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wayfarer’s Chapel, religious buildings often become the ideal canvas for an architect – an exercise in their ability to incorporate local technology, decoration, and culture into a principal community building. Preserving an architect’s vision when modernizing an older church can be quite the challenge. 

Built in 1961, the 7,400 square foot First Christian Church in Orange, CA features vaulted wooden ceilings, large windows, a choir loft, and an antique underground furnace system to provide heating. GMEP Engineers was tasked with providing the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing designs for an air conditioning addition to the concrete structure. Our team was careful and precise to ensure that our designs would not interrupt the immaculate vaulted wood ceilings or distract from the design vision. 

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN

The mechanical design included two 12.5-ton roof packaged gas units. By running the ductwork through angled soffits placed along the beams and adding linear diffusers to provide even air distribution, we were able to preserve the serenity of the vaulted ceiling without sacrificing performance. GMEP Engineers modeled the building’s large windows and occupancy to ensure that energy efficiency standards were met due to the location’s unique thermal envelope and larger cooling load.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN

The electrical design for the space included a new 800 amp 3-phase underground pull section to power the new equipment, existing panels, and lighting. This space includes outdoor metering that routes into the building and up to the units on the roof. Our talented team of engineers worked closely with the client, architect, and contractors to ensure the penetrations were weatherproof, allowing the system to perform at peak efficiency.  

PLUMBING ENGINEERING DESIGN

The plumbing design system included gas piping for the new rooftop packaged units. Like the mechanical design, the routing of the gas line required attention to the unique building architecture. The lines were run along the edge of the building to provide gas to both units. Connecting the new gas piping to the existing gas meter required extensive coordination due to the complexity of the design. 

The First Christian Church in Orange is one of many church projects that GMEP Engineers has worked on over the years. Other church projects include New Hope Church in Richmond, CA, Christ Lutheran in Costa Mesa, CA and Calvary Chapel in Anaheim, Chino Hills, and Simi Valley, CA.

Our emphasis on practical and cost-effective design distinguishes us from our competition. Always committed to meeting your goals and deadlines, we are confident that we are the right choice for your project.

As always, please reach out with any questions or RFPs. We look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time,

Your friends at GMEP Engineers