The vision is to enhance the experience and express the presence of God to the heart of the community by developing a building to meet the on-going needs and future needs of the Church. The project involves the replacement of the existing Meldrum Church building which is close to the end of its life expectancy.

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The new Church will provide a building in which the existing work of the Church can continue in a comfortable and sustainable environment. The new building is expected to:

• facilitate future development of Church work and offer community services
• provide a contact / meeting place for the local community
• be an opportunity to expand a sense of citizenship based on and encouraging the Christian faith and values.
• Ensure greater flexibility for church use, and for functions / events
• aesthetically pleasing building & interiors
• low operational and maintenance costs
• delight Church members, staff and visitors
• provide an environment that encourages Church membership and growth
• meets capital budget and is self-financing (source of revenue to pay for maintenance and future capital expenditure)
• enhance the church environment / community
• provide a facility that accommodates all current uses and offers accommodation for other potential uses
• the building must be sustainable, as measured by low running costs, economic maintenance and environmentally sensitive principles, and also inclusive and inspiring to the Church family, the wider community and to all who will use it.

The building structure is a combination of load bearing glulam portal frames, solid cross laminated timber panels (clt) and closed insulated timber panels. The cross laminated panels are also used to form the roof structure and provide racking for stability. Timber is the number one renewable mainstream construction material and can produce greener buildings with a lower carbon footprint. Under floor heating is provided to all areas except the plant rooms, with additional radiators in the church space. Heat recovery shall be used where possible to remove heat from the extracted air in order to pre-heat the incoming fresh air. All perimeter rooms shall be provided with natural ventilation where possible. The following areas will be provided with mechanical ventilation:

• Sports hall (supply and extract with heat recovery)
• Kitchen (extract only)
• Sunday school/overspill (supply and extract with heat recovery)
• Changing areas (supply and extract with heat recovery)
• Toilets (extract only)

In addition we anticipate that photovoltaic (pv) panels shall be required on the south facing church roof. It is anticipated that enhanced construction details, u-values, air tightness and various passive measures shall be employed to achieve a modern energy efficient building.