Garland Reynold’s Interview

Garland Reynolds is the architect who designed our church building and worship space.  This video interview is with George Yandell, our rector, and Garland in 2022.  The text version of the same interview is below.

George: We are here today with Garland Reynolds who was the architect for this unique and wonderful space at parish hall.  Garland, thank you in advance for coming and doing this for us.  

Garland:  It’s a pleasure to be here.

George:  We want to give as wide an exposure to the history of this place as we can.  Can you tell me about the specific location and its importance for your design?

Garland:  Yes this was the most intriguing thing to me imaginable when I got started. 

George:  We want to give as wide an exposure to the history of this place as we can.  Can you tell me about the specific location and its importance for your design?

This outside is the authentic historic Ball Ground.  It dates back 500-600 years into the Muskogean culture which predates the Cherokee.  It’s a wonderful place where crowds would gather and watch players play with two sticks and something called a “chuck lee(sp?).”  It’s a round stone about 6 inches in diameter, carved out in the middle.  The goal was to roll it one side or another towards the goal.  And there were wagers placed of course.  It was a great gathering place.  And I thought that fit in exactly with what we going to do here, have a gathering place.

George:  It seems as if this architecture was a departure from what you might have been doing prior to this.  Is that correct?

Garland:  I have a background in Gothic cathedral architecture.  I studied it throughout England, France, Germany and Italy, and I’m well versed in that architectural concept.  

George:  So the flying buttresses and the clere story windows?

Garland:  All that, yes.

George:  But usually in Europe they didn’t use board and batten.  

Garland:  No, no they didn’t.  Basically they used stone.  The great stone masons of those periods.  I marvel at how they were able to build those things so tall.

Everything had to be common materials.  You didn’t see anything special ordered.  You could walk into a lumber yard and buy the same material.

The trusses over there are common gang-nail trusses.  They have been layered to look like they’re custom, but they’re not.

George:  And actually they are supportive of the roof.  They are structural members aren’t they? 

Garland:  My structural engineer said “You’ve got to brace them”. So that’s why those triangular members come out on each side.  That’s a structural requirement to hold it together.  

George:  That’s wonderful.

And the clere story windows, that gives it a sense of proportion, doesn’t it?

Garland:  Yes, yes.

Everything about Gothic architecture is about light coming in.  It’s a worship of light in a way, because you’re sitting in an interior space called a nave.

Interesting because the naval builders actually built the first churches.  They were the great wood craftsmen. 

Everything about Gothic architecture is about light coming in.  It’s a worship of light.

[Cross in Window A]

Everything about Gothic architecture is about light coming in.  It’s a worship of light.

And it’s a space defined by columns, not walls.

Now on each side there are walkways.  

And beyond that the way that the gothic did was put stained glass windows, and that dissolved the walls.

So that you are sitting in a space, protected.  You can communicate with God in your own way. You’re free to worship, and free to follow the communion or the music or the spoken word without interruption, and that’s what they did.

It all had to go up.  This is 60 feet tall by the way.  That window there is 60 feet up.

That’s probably the greatest innovation in this building.  How do you support a 60 foot high, half inch glass window?

And if you’ll look, each pane is 4 feet high.

And each one is held up by a stainless steel angle, so the bottom one – they all support themselves.

George:  You said there was a specific idea you had with having the stone walls and then the windows to bring light in, but the design itself was based on a ship, wasn’t it?

Garland:  It is.  You can imagine yourself sailing through the environment.

And that’s a gunnel.  Those are the gun walls, gunnels for the ship. Got 4 feet high, so protected.  Water can’t, waves can’t hit.  Animals, whatever’s out there can’t get in.

inch glass window?

And if you’ll look, each pane is 4 feet high.

And each one is held up by a stainless steel angle, so the bottom one – they all support themselves.

[interview]George:  You said there was a specific idea you had with having the stone walls and then the windows to bring light in, but the design itself was based on a ship, wasn’t it?

Garland:  It is.  You can imagine yourself sailing through the environment.

Water can’t, waves can’t hit.  Animals, whatever’s out there can’t get in.

But the structure is lifted up so there are no mullions in the glass.  It’s all clear glass.

So we’re now one with the outside environment and the outside environment is also here.

The floor.  I wanted something that would simulate natural dirt floor.  I found this African Slate, that was imported, and it was as close to a dirt floor that I could get.

George:  So which of the features that you’ve designed here do you consider the most inspiring?  What makes your heart sing when you walk into this space?

[Cross in Window A small.jpg]

Garland:  The height, the light coming in, and being able to see all of God’s Creation around us.

[Side Windows Slanted.]and being able to see all of God’s creation around us.

George:  What else would you like folks to know about this place and the architecture, the way it has situated itself in this area?

Garland:  I think it stands alone.  It combines the character of several different cultures.  Historically going all the way back to the early Christian period, particularly the Anglican church in England.  Salisbury cathedral is my favorite cathedral in England.  It’s the same thing.  You’ll go into the nave there you’ll experience the same feeling.

George:  Garland, what you’ve given us today is marvelous and people, when they visit the website, they can learn something that we couldn’t describe in our own words, but you’ve made it come alive.

Garland:  It’s such a pleasure to be here.  I love this place.  It’s my favorite.