Cherry Hills Community Church

Highlands Ranch, Colorado

The Cherry Hills Community Church is a vibrant ministry that incorporates all aspects of media and technology to serve their expanding congregation. Their campus includes a 3,500 seat worship center, a 1,000 seat multipurpose atrium, a 400 seat chapel, two gyms, a preschool through jr.high school, a recording studio, and a video recording and production facility.

From a music and production standpoint, Cherry Hills has established a reputation in the community and across the country of creativity in planning and excellence in execution. That excellence is a result of quality equipment, professional personnel, and a facility designed for flexibility and future expansion.

WORSHIP CENTER AUDITORIUM

Sound Investment Enterprises has served as the church's acoustical and theatrical consultant and a/v system designer for all of their principle venues. With the ministry's strong commitment to technical excellence and flexibility, the Worship Center has incorporated many state-of-the-are functions and features that are typically found only in performing arts facilities.

To facilitate the weekly demands for meeting and performance space, the entire campus has a extensive network of audio, video, and data lines throughout the facility allowing events from any performance venue to be viewed anywhere on campus. The Worship Center technical systems and infrastructure allow the production staff to configure the auditorium for an eclectic assortment of events. Some of the auditorium's technical features include...

an extensive catwalk layout accessing stage lighting, video projection, speaker arrays, and structural rigging points
operable stage walls that can reconfigure the stage's size and appearance
variable acoustic panels optimized for a wide range of acoustical events
a motorized main curtain
a 5.1 surround sound system utilizing MAD planar magnetic speakers
separate digital sound consoles at the front of house, stage monitors, and recording and TV broadcast
a computerized lighting system
a wide assortment of conventional and robotic lighting fixtures
seven rear projection audience screens for graphics and I.Mag presentation
two rear projection "stage cue" screens for graphics and lyric prompting
multiple rigging points over stage and seating for touring road shows and concerts

Installing new MAD A-9 & SB-412C array

Balcony with five rear projection video screens

ATRIUM FELLOWSHIP CENTER

The Atrium Fellowship Center provides a multipurpose gathering space for events with up to 1,000 guests. Following the same strategy for flexibility and adaptable media that's incorporated into the Worship Center, the Atrium is outfitted with all of the technology systems needed for satellite-linked video seminars, training conferences, concerts, receptions, and banquets. With over 20 events scheduled in the Atrium every week, the sound, lighting, and video systems are designed for rapid reconfiguration via remote control wall panels by the media or facility staff. Events originating in the Atrium can be "broadcast" to other meeting spaces throughout the campus.

Specific technical features include...

two permanent rear projection screens and one retractable main center screen
two 12,000 lumen & one 5,500 lumen video projectors
a 3.1 LCR system utilizing MAD planar magnetic speakers
near-field LCR monitoring speakers at the mezzanine mix position using MAD planar magnetic speakers
a digital front of house sound console controlling stage monitors, recording, and TV broadcast mixes
five personal onstage monitor mixers for each musician
a computerized lighting system controlling stage and house lights
a wide assortment of conventional and robotic lighting fixtures
a touch panel audio & media control system for rapid reconfiguration of the a/v systems

Atrium stage in "seminar" configuration

Mezzanine mix position with MAD near-field monitors

CHAPEL

     The Chapel's beautiful interior of stained glass windows, stone walls, and massive wooden beams conceals the exceptional technology that's been blended into the space. While the 400 seat Chapel presents a more formal setting than the Worship Center or Atrium, the media and production tools integrated into the facility provide a perfect place for smaller and more intimate concerts, seminars, weddings or funerals, or worship services.

     Certain architectural priorities dictated that the appearance of A/V and production components be kept in a low profile. With a wide variety of events planned for the Chapel, the church staff knew that moving equipment, instruments, and furniture on and off the stage would be a daily requirement. Therefore access to the elevated stage from the basement storage is provided by a theatrical stage lift, a passenger elevator, and an ADA ramp system. In addition, the Chapel's formal appearance called for video cameras to be discretely positioned at strategic locations about the room. With control of low-profile robotic cameras, Chapel events are transmitted about the campus or streamed on the church's website.

     A 50 foot peak ceiling could make stage lighting adjustments challenging and time consuming. So several motorized lighting fixtures were selected to re-focus and re-color the stage lighting for any event. All of the interior and exterior lighting looks are stored in the console's memory so that they can be recalled for each event.

     Specific technical features include...

custom pneumatic controlled front projection screen that extends up through stage floor from basement
one 12,000 lumen LCD video projector
a stereo sound system utilizing custom MAD planar magnetic speakers
a digital front of house sound console controlling stage monitors, recording, and TV broadcast mixes
five personal onstage monitor mixers for each musician
a computerized lighting system
a wide assortment of conventional and robotic lighting fixtures
a touch panel control system to reconfigure audio and video systems for various events

A warm and intimate setting in the 400 seat Chapel

One of two custom stereo arrays utilizing HPV Technologies MAD A-9 planar magnetic speakers.