Renovating a church is about more than updating a building. Churches, chapels, synagogues, and other spiritual spaces often carry decades or even centuries of history. Their architecture, furnishings, and interiors help create a sense of permanence and place.
New seating needs to respect that character while meeting the needs of the people who use the space today.
For churches replacing aging seating, undertaking a larger renovation, or considering replacing traditional pews with chairs, choosing the right seating early in the process can make a significant difference. Here are some of the most important factors to consider.
Let the Architecture Guide the Seating
Walk into a historic church or chapel and the furniture immediately becomes part of the architecture. Hardwood floors, millwork, stained glass, stone, soaring ceilings, and traditional detailing can all influence what type of chair belongs in the room. New seating should complement those elements rather than compete with them.
Hardwood chairs are particularly well suited to traditional spiritual spaces because wood provides the warmth and permanence associated with historic church furnishings. The chair design, hardwood species, finish, upholstery, and proportions can then be selected to suit the individual interior. This is also where made-to-order furniture offers an advantage. A church does not necessarily have to settle for a standard chair in a standard finish. Seating can be selected and customized around the renovation.
Decide Whether You Need Fixed or Flexible Seating
One of the biggest decisions during a church renovation is whether the space should retain traditional pews or transition to individual chairs.
There is no single answer that is right for every church.
Traditional pews may be an important architectural or liturgical element of some sanctuaries. Individual chairs, however, can give a congregation significantly more flexibility. Consider everything that happens in the space throughout the year. In addition to worship services, it might host weddings, funerals, concerts, lectures, community meetings, holiday celebrations, interfaith gatherings, or other special events.
If seating needs to move regularly, a stacking chair can make it possible to transform the room without sacrificing a traditional appearance. Many Eustis Chair stacking models stack up to 10 chairs high, making them easier to store when a room needs to be reconfigured.
Consider an Alternative to Traditional Pews
Replacing pews does not necessarily mean giving up the appearance of pew seating. When Phillips Exeter Academy needed seating for its historic church, Eustis Chair worked with the project team to develop the Exeter Modular Pew. The resulting white oak chairs interlock to create the traditional appearance and feel of church pews, even including hymnal storage on the back.
Unlike fixed pews, however, the individual chairs can be disconnected, moved, and stacked. Phillips Exeter’s chapel serves an interfaith community and needed to accommodate different religious traditions and events. Flexible seating allowed the school to preserve the character of the historic space while making it much easier to adapt the room for different uses.
The project demonstrates an important lesson for any church renovation: seating does not have to be either traditional or flexible. Thoughtful design can provide both.
Think About How Often Chairs Will Be Moved
Stackability is only useful if the chairs can realistically be handled by the people responsible for setting up the room.
Ask practical questions during the selection process. How frequently will chairs move? Who will move them? How many chairs can be stacked together? Where will the stacks be stored? How quickly does the room need to transition from one configuration to another?
Congregation Beth Shalom in Seattle, for example, selected Eustis Chair stacking chairs specifically for a multifunction space. The ability to rearrange seating gave the congregation the versatility it needed while still providing the elegance and comfort expected from permanent-quality hardwood furniture.
These logistical details may seem minor during a major architectural renovation, but they can have an enormous effect on how successfully the space functions after the project is complete.
Choose Chairs That Can Handle Decades of Use
Church furniture can experience extraordinary amounts of use. Every service brings repeated sitting and standing. Chairs may be pulled across floors, rearranged for events, stacked, unstacked, and used by generations of congregation members. That makes construction particularly important.
When comparing chairs, look beyond appearance and ask how they are built. How are the joints constructed? Is the chair engineered for frequent use? Can components be repaired? Can upholstery eventually be replaced? What warranty does the manufacturer provide? Eustis Chair developed the patented Eustis Joint® to strengthen the joints of hardwood chairs and provide the durability required in demanding environments. Chairs constructed with the Eustis Joint are backed by a 20-year warranty against joint failure.
Investing in durable seating can also reduce the need to continually purchase replacements.
Don’t Overlook Comfort
A beautiful chair is not successful if people are uncomfortable sitting in it. Worship services are only one consideration. Weddings, funerals, concerts, lectures, and special services can keep guests seated for extended periods. Seat dimensions, back support, proportions, and upholstery should all be evaluated with comfort in mind.
Whenever possible, try a sample chair before making a final decision. A sample allows members of the project team to experience the chair in person and evaluate its comfort, scale, finish, construction, and appearance within the actual space.
Consider How the Chairs Will Look 20 Years From Now
Church renovations are typically designed to last much longer than a few years. Furniture should be selected with the same perspective. Trendy seating may look current when it is installed but feel dated long before the next renovation. A well-proportioned hardwood chair can provide a more timeless solution, particularly in historic and traditionally designed interiors.
At historic Graham Chapel at Washington University in St. Louis, for example, Eustis Chair supplied William & Mary stacking chairs in beech. The traditional chair design was selected to complement the architecture of the chapel while still providing the advantages of movable seating.
A successful church renovation should feel cohesive when it opens and continue to feel appropriate decades later.
Look at the Lifetime Cost, Not Just the Purchase Price
Church renovation committees have a responsibility to use project funds carefully. That makes the initial price of furniture important, but it should not be the only consideration. A less expensive chair that needs to be replaced several times may ultimately cost an institution more than furniture designed to remain in service for decades.
Long-lasting hardwood chairs can also offer options that disposable furniture cannot. Depending on the chair and its condition, hardwood furniture can be repaired, refinished, or reupholstered as interiors and needs change. There is an environmental benefit as well. One of the most effective ways to reduce furniture waste is to purchase fewer pieces of furniture over time.
Eustis Chair builds its chairs to order in the United States using sustainable hardwoods. Building furniture intended for decades of use is central to our approach to sustainability.
Include Seating Early in the Renovation
Don’t wait until construction is nearly complete to start thinking about chairs. Selecting seating earlier allows the architect, designer, church leadership, and furniture manufacturer to consider how the chairs interact with the overall renovation. Wood finishes can coordinate with architectural millwork. Upholstery can complement the interior palette. Storage can be planned around the actual stacking requirements. Seating dimensions can inform layouts and capacity planning. Early planning also leaves time to explore custom options when an existing chair is not quite right for the project.
Eustis Chair works directly with architects, designers, and institutions to select, modify, and develop hardwood seating for distinctive spaces. Every chair is made to order in the USA, allowing each project to be approached according to its own architectural and functional needs.
Chairs for the Next Chapter of Your Church
A church renovation connects the history of a building with its future. The right seating should do the same.
Whether a project calls for traditional hardwood chairs, flexible stacking seating, or an innovative alternative to fixed pews, chairs should enhance the architecture while supporting the many ways the congregation will use the space in the years ahead. Eustis Chair has manufactured hardwood seating for churches, chapels, synagogues, funeral homes, and other spiritual spaces across North America. Our chairs combine traditional craftsmanship with modern engineering to provide beautiful, customizable seating designed for decades of use.