High Street Methodists Church- Harpenden
Highstreet Methodist Church, Harpenden was in need of a refurbishment, with plans starting in 2015. The main goal of this refurbishment was to make the church flexible and increase the use of the church space. The project started with only making changes to the church nave and transepts. By 2017 it had become a reorder for the main church to unlock the full capacity of their most important space.
The pews created other issues than just flexibility, as access to pews was limited to those who have disabilities or parents with small children and prams
Needs
The church needed lightweight wooden chairs that could be stacked and moved around to suit the needs of their community. From shifting the layouts for different services to clearing them out for large events, conferences and playgroups.
Many members of the church were in favour of replacing the pews with chairs; however, some feedback did raise some concerns. Issues with comfort, as well as how less mobile members will be able to get in and out of the chairs.
Theo was the only chair to meet all the criteria, whilst being the cheapest out of all the options assessed, its comfort and lightweight qualities put any prior concerns to bed.
Why Theo?
The Theo chair was the ideal solution for Harpenden, meeting all requirements and tackling their concerns.
Stackable
The ability for the chair to stack was an essential requirement for the new chairs. Theo as well as many of its competitors can stack, however, none can stack to as many as 30, unlike Theo.
Mobility & Comfort
When looking for a solution that would also work for less able members of the congregation, Theo’s armchair version and its ability to stack with the regular Theo chair made it an appealing option.
Comfort was also an issue raised when looking for a wooden chair, Theo offers an additional seat pad which offers additional comfort, on this occasion the church decided to provide optional seat cushions for and when members needed them.
After the removal of the pews, the feedback received was largely positive as many of the members enjoyed being able to use the space to its full potential and not have to work around static pews. Clearing the space for events such as Easter was made simple, not only being able to clear the chairs out, but also being able to replace them in 40 mins ready for Sunday service.