Religion
Spanning a
congregation
24 NSC
May 18
Said to be one of the largest
construction projects the Northern
Ireland town of Ballymena has seen
for many years, the Green Pastures
Church is rapidly taking shape on the
outskirts of the Ulster town.
Looming large on the southern
approaches to Ballymena, the imposing
steel-framed structure, set within a 96-acre
site, will comprise a main 1,600-capacity
auditorium, sports hall, classrooms, meeting
spaces, crèche, a gym, café, offices, a fitness
studio, wedding and reception venue, as well
as a large exterior car park.
Green Pastures spokesperson Jason
Kennedy says: “We believe that the church
of Jesus Christ should have a relevant and
influential position at the heart of the
community. We are focused on meeting
the needs of our local communities and
committed to bringing the hope of the
Gospel of Jesus to the local area.
“The new facility is the first stage of
a larger, long term not-for-profit legacy
project, desiring to play a part in bringing
spiritual, social and economic revival to our
town.”
Green Pastures was founded in
Ballymena in 2007 by Jeff Wright, whose
father started Wrightbus, the town’s largest
employer and the manufacturer of London’s
latest red buses.
The church has grown significantly in just
11 years and says it has over 1,000 people
of all ages in attendance across its Sunday
services. Known as Project Nehemiah, the
new Church and its many facilities will be a
big boost to the local community.
Construction of the Church got under
way last year with an enabling works
package that included installing drainage
and preparing the plot by levelling the
sloping ground.
Locally-based contractor martin &
hamilton (m&h), who are responsible for
the Church structure, then started on-site
during July and began by installing pad
foundations and lift shafts in readiness for
the steel frame to be erected.
“As with many buildings it was important
to get the structural frame up as quickly as
possible on this job to allow the numerous
follow-on trades to get started,” explains
m&h Project Manager Martin McCready.
To this end, steelwork contractor Walter
Watson had fabricated, supplied and erected
all of the project’s 840t structural steel by the
end of March.
“Steel was not only chosen for its speed of
construction,” adds Mr McCready. “It is also
provided the most efficient way of creating
Including a large flexible auditorium and a sports hall, the Green
Pastures Church in Ballymena is benefitting from using a steel
framing solution. Martin Cooper reports.
FACT FILE
Green Pastures Church,
Ballymena, County
Antrim
Main Client:
Green Pastures
Architect:
HPA Architecture
Main contractor:
martin & hamilton
Structural engineer:
RPS
Steelwork contractor:
Walter Watson
Steel tonnage: 840t
/Leisure_buildings#Theatres_and_auditoria
/Construction
/Fabrication
/Construction#Steel_erection