Stanton Dahl Architects provide modern building solutions designed for social impact. They believe space should be good, do good and make good in the service of people.

We interviewed Shayne Evans (CEO and Lead Architect) about how church architecture can provide a positive influence for the needs of a church community.

Why do church buildings matter?

Effective spaces enable gospel ministry to happen, and church buildings are statements impacting people through how they look and feel.

Space is never neutral – it always says and does something. Buildings are an opportunity for a church to articulate what they’re about.

How do you make church spaces as easy as possible for the uninitiated to feel welcome in an unfamiliar space?

For a church who wants to minister to the marginalised or the vulnerable, does their space communicate that? How does that differ from, say, a family-oriented space?

That’s an example of how spatial design and faith interact.

What are some common challenges churches face with building projects?

All too often, churches haven’t established a clear alignment between their ministry goals and the built space which they are planning to construct.

It’s a deeply strategic question, but it has very practical implications. Buildings are expensive assets, and most churches don’t have a lot of cash flow – so they are rightly concerned about getting value for money. 

But if a church hasn’t wrestled deeply enough with their ministry strategy and its practical implications, no amount of investment will be able to achieve a successful ministry space.

We noticed this is something churches often struggle with, so we’ve partnered with Reach Australia to create a free ebook (coming out in May 2025) which helps mark out some stepping stones on that thought process.

Conversely, we’ve found that once a church has done the deep thinking about what their ministry strategy requires, there are often cost-effective actions they can take to enable it.

It could be as simple as removing a wall to unlock flexibility in an existing space, or repositioning the entrance way to engage people differently.

Tell us about one church you’ve worked with.

St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Roseville, Sydney knew the space wasn’t working for their ministries.

They had a broad objective: they wanted their church hall to be more effective. But they couldn’t tangibly articulate what the cause of the problem was.

The main building is a large, attractive, traditional church on a prominent street corner. The adjacent church hall was well used, but it was difficult to access. The circulation pattern between the two wasn’t clear or inviting.

We came to realise that it wasn’t the church or the hall that needed to be reimagined, but the space between them. So that’s what we did, and to everyone’s delight, it’s looking very promising.

What are some of the particular challenges for church building projects with heritage considerations?

Heritage issues aren’t make-or-break, but they are one additional hurdle which needs to be thought through.

My experience has been that most heritage authorities actually want these buildings to be used. So if going to church looks different today to what it did when the facility was built, I’ve often found them willing to explore what could be done to modernise heritage buildings for contemporary usage.

That can mean educating and upskilling the authority to understand what ministry looks like today, as opposed to a hundred years ago.

Some people who work at Stanton Dahl, including yourself, trust in Jesus. How does that influence your work?

I’ll answer that in two ways – for me personally, and as an organisation.

As a Jesus follower myself, I have always been fascinated by how faith and work intersect. I have a genuine sense of calling to be an architect, and so I’m interested in how I can perform my work as an act of worship.

Partnering with churches is a wonderful way to do that. They are directly involved in bringing the kingdom near, so giving them effective spaces to function as opportunity-makers for ministry is a great avenue for it.

However, building churches is only one aspect of how that work-as-worship occurs. At Stanton Dahl we have a series of belief statements for the organisation, and right near the top is ‘all people matter.’ 

All people matter to Jesus, so regardless of what the project is, we want to use our skill and resources to create meaningful impact in the lives of the people who use these facilities.

—

Shayne and his team from Stanton Dahl Architects will have a stall at National Conference 2025 and they’d love to chat to churches who want to think more about using their buildings effectively.

Reach Australia and Stanton Dahl are releasing a free ebook called Built to Last in May 2025. It aims to walk churches through what undertaking a building project could look like.