Seventh-day Adventist church presents scaled new-construction options near Seward Hall; DRC urges material and fenestration refinements

Brandon Priddy of 906 Studio Architects presented early schematic concepts for a new building for the Franklin Seventh-day Adventist Church at 1751 Players Mill Road, a site within the city's historic preservation overlay and adjacent to Seward Hall, a locally designated and National Register-listed landmark. Priddy said the team is in schematic design and focused on reducing the earlier, entitled massing to a smaller, more context-sensitive building.

Preservation staff told the DRC that a 2004 site plan had been entitled and that the current proposal reduces the peak height to about 33 feet to better align with Seward Hall. "The proposed design in comparison to what was approved in 02/2004 ... is more contextually sensitive to Seward Hall. The height has been reduced to a peak of the same height of 33 feet, which is about the height of Seward Hall," staff said, while recommending feedback on windows, the entrance feature and a prominent canopy.

Commissioners offered a range of opinions. Some said the earlier 2004 design read more traditionally and would be more clearly "church-like," while others supported a contemporary design that is "inspired by, not replicating" historic forms. Several commissioners urged the applicant to break down massing, avoid direct replication of Seward Hall, use brick and stone to relate to nearby buildings, and refine the entrance so the solid-to-void (wall-to-glass) rhythm reads as more vertical and civic in scale. Commissioners also noted the lack of nearby civic precedents and asked the applicant to study how the building will be seen from the site drive and from Seward Hall.

Next steps: the DRC asked the applicant to refine fenestration proportions, clarify the canopy's size and materials, and continue reducing mass where possible; no formal action was taken.