REAL Life Student Ministries Youth Room Reno

Bench Wall, after!

I incorporated indirect up lighting in the niches through opaqued glass.

REAL Life Student Ministries Youth Room Reno

Main Stage, after!

REAL Life Student Ministries Youth Room Reno

"Common Ground" Cafe, before!












"Common Ground" Cafe, after!

REAL Life Student Ministries Youth Room Reno

I chose wood flooring for the stage to dress it up and give it warmth.

REAL Life Student Ministries Youth Room Reno

The stage is without doubt the main focus of the room and my goal was to make it very dramatic. The back wall was not symmetrical due to some oddly placed windows and structural supports, so i brought the wall out about 6 inches to make it flush all the way across.

REAL Life Student Ministries Youth Room Reno

One of my main goals in this room was to add some architectural detail. The room was very plain and contained hardly any detail. The bench wall in this picture allowed for casual seating and the lighted niches added drama and interest.

Another large change that I wanted to add was better lighting. The room was originally lit by flurescent fixtures that made it feel very cold. We removed half of the fixtures and replaced them with recessed can lights to warm up the space.

REAL Life Student Ministries Youth Room Reno

This is what I started with on the REAL Life youth room remodel. A very blank slate when it came to features in the room. The original remodel was done on a very small and tight budget several years ago. I was approached by the youth pastor to come up with a plan to bring this room up to date and make it a great hang out spot for the youth group.

In these photos it was clearly in need of an update so that is what I did.

GIC Prayer Service Stage

The last step was to add the lighting. Up until this point the design seemed a little simple and borring, but strategic lighting does wonders. I used 5 stage cans with 300watt bulbs placed on the floor behind each black panel. I directed them up to wash over the white fabric and added the desired colors to create a very dramatic feeling. I also suspended 4 stage cans from the ceiling above to light up the main stage and directed the light so that it would not take away from the drama of the backdrop.

GIC Prayer Service Stage

The next step was adding the dimensional elements with the black fabric. I originally started by setting the stage 32 inches away from the back wall to create a trof. Once the distance was established at the base, I was able to determine how far the tops of the panels needed to extend out. The braces for the top of the black panels was simply a 2x4 construction in the shape of a "T". Once the braces were secured at the top I attached the panels at the bottom and then cinched them to create a symmetrical pattern.

GIC Prayer Service Stage

The frames were then covered by blankets of heavy white fabric folded over along the top edge to create pleats.

GIC Prayer Service Stage

The main elements of the design were actually very simple. The structure for the backdrop was simply 3 framed 2x4 walls connected together and attached to the back wall. The main stage is made up of 4x8 staging panels set in a 24'x12' configuration.