Our Savior Lutheran Church

Nature of Work: 8,887 SF renovations and  3,280 SF addition

Location: Hanover, New Hampshire

The journey for the team of Our Savior Lutheran Church (OSLC), Trumbull-Nelson, and Banwell Architect’s Stuart White began when the original plans for the sanctuary built by Trumbull-Nelson included a connection to the existing parish hall. This connection was to include meeting rooms and educational space. That part of the plan wasn’t carried out at the time because church resources weren’t sufficient to do it.

Years later, OSLC began again working to evaluate and compare ways to make their building space more useful. Although some minor renovation work on the office space was done several years ago, lots of time was taken for the congregation to think through longer-term changes.

The planning process involved input from the congregation through meetings, surveys, draft plans, and revised plans. It seemed only natural to again work with the same team, Trumbull-Nelson and Stuart White, who made the first major expansion a reality. OSLC now has an opportunity to better meet their current program needs and is better equipped to meet the challenges of a growing congregation.

The improvements that emerged from the congregational survey, and those are reflected in the new addition and renovations are:

• Handicapped accessibility for the entire structure
• A fully connected sanctuary and parish hall
• Larger and improved educational space
• A totally new kitchen space
• Expanded seating in the sanctuary
• Major improvements to mechanical systems
• New insulation for the sanctuary