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Calvary Chapel Bible College’s campus in Twin Peaks, California, seems as though it was always there in the mountains. Its current home was previously an alpine lodge, though, and its current student center a conference center. Through it all, the historic mid-century modern structure in San Bernardino County had lost its clean-lined cool.

“Visioneering helped us restore it to its mid-century charm,” says Jordan Taylor, M. Div., executive pastor at the college, who has recently moved to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.

The Twin Peaks-area student center space, renovated by Visioneering, provides multiple functional, colorful enclaves for students.

“It’s a bright update, and images don’t do it justice—they can’t capture the joy that happens in that space. You must see it in person to see how many creative spaces they made out of this beautiful mid-century alpine lodge,” Taylor says.

Danae Dougherty, Visioneering’s interior designer and project manager, shared this about her team’s work: “We wanted to celebrate the traditional mid-century architecture and natural setting, nestled in the mountains. [So] we kept the palette natural and timeless, and introduced some new textures with concrete, wood and leather.”

Paint and flooring updates were among the budget-sensitive project’s largest expenditures.

“The previous flooring was wall-to-wall broadloom carpet, including the dining areas; they were unsuitable for the use and hard to maintain and clean,” Dougherty describes. “We introduced carpet, where appropriate, and new wood luxury vinyl tile to bring in a warm, natural aesthetic and a more durable material for [a] food/dining experience.”

Three new updated lighting fixtures were also part of the update, as well as a modernization of the space’s wood burning fireplaces. Dougherty and her team also added a new wrap-around bar in the dining hall, with power stations included.

For Taylor, he’s pleased with the student interaction that’s happening in the new space. “[There’s a] library with wonderful leather seating sitting in A-frame windows, plus lots of games and wonderful connection.”

He adds, “The [space] has become a catch-all for so many different things—play, study, group breakfast, and it’s rarely empty.”

According to Taylor, the president of Calvary Chapel Bible College, Justin Thomas, is equally pleased with the new design elements of the student center.

For those looking to update existing facilities, as Calvary Chapel recently did, Dougherty says it’s important to have a professional design team to see the big picture and how everything can come together.

A design team can also help save clients’ money by assessing what must change and what can stay the same. For example, Dougherty says at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Twin Peaks, her team identified great existing fixtures that could remain, and then ways to surround them with updates that help call out and celebrate them.

“We had a great ceiling and roofline to work with—we didn’t even paint it,” she notes. “The expenditure would have been substantial, so instead we kept ceilings as is and worked with the existing color. All of the new design elements were selected to work with and show off that beautiful feature.”

She adds, “We focused our efforts on floors, lighting and furniture that would make that ceiling pop more and give us that great, cozy modern lodge vibe.”