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The Gruver Room is a congregational post-service meeting room at the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Laramie, Wyoming.  The Gruver Room  has become functionally and aesthetically outdated as a meeting space.  I was hired by the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church to assess options to revamp the space.  My work began with two meetings with members of the congregation where I took careful notes of their many concerns and preferences about the potential remodel, as well as the major shortcomings of the existing plan. 

 

In the first phase of the redesign of the space, I presented the congregation with four alternative floor plans that were possible with current structural and plumbing constraints (based off of construction documents of the space from the 1980s).  After discussing the benefits and pitfalls of each, the congregation selected one of the options for further development and renderings.  The final images of the remodeled space were presented to the congregation, who then voted to proceed with my design.  Work is due to begin in late Summer 2018.

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The new plan combines the existing, under-utilized Otto & Helena Dahl Chapel with the current nursery, while expanding the southern portion of the Gruver Room 13 ft. eastward.  To draw parishioners to the southern end of the space, a back-lit cross has been placed to serve as a shrine, place of reflection, and alternative alter, should the space be used for smaller services.  The plan also adds skylights to the southern portion of the space, providing ample natural light.  The new space will also include a wall-mounted television screen and a bulletin board.  The heavy use of oak (furniture, cabinetry and floors), a full barn-wood wall, and ebony details create a warm, welcoming space.  The aforementioned additions to the space, as well as the increase in square footage, make the space far more flexible and inviting.