Insights

Insights

11.22.23
Historic courthouse and fire station win Justice Facility Review awards
Polk County Historic Courthouse and Marion Fire Station 1 have been honored by the American Institute of Architects Academy of Architecture for Justice with a 2023 Justice Facilities Review Award. The Justice Facilities Review documents best practices in ...
08.14.23
Johnston City Hall featured during Biennale de Architettura in Venice

Every other year the Biennale de Architettura assembles an international exhibition showcasing  architecture as a solution to contemporary societal, humanistic, and technological issues. Universally accepted as the world’s leading architecture event, this year’s exhibition “The Laboratory of the …

08.03.23
Northstreet Co-op & Bakke Center’s The Living Kitchen embody transformational design

Two project honored by Madison’s business community with a Commercial Design Award – Northstreet Co-op and The Bakke Center’s The Living Kitchen – uniquely embody the transformational potential of renovations and re-use across all scales and spectrums.   The …

05.17.23
Marion Fire Station 1 receives award from International Living Future Institute for biophilic design

The Marion Fire Station was recently recognized at the annual International Living Future Institute conference in Washington, D.C. with a Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award. The Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award recognizes achievements in the built environment, …

03.23.23
College of Pharmacy earns LEED Silver certification

The University of Iowa’s new College of Pharmacy building has earned LEED Silver certification. Complete in December 2019, the building was officially dedicated in 2021 due to COVID-19. The new 210,000-square-foot building replaced the 1960s College of Pharmacy …

03.07.23
Marion Fire Station 1 featured in March issue of Architectural Record

Marion Fire Station 1 is highlighted in the March issue of Architectural Record magazine. The civic issue showcases public buildings in Nova Scotia, Milan, Zurich, San Francisco, and Marion, Iowa.   The two-level 21,000-square-foot fire station reduces response …

03.07.23
Trauma-informed design shapes community for human trafficking survivors

The impact of human trafficking ripples across the fabric of our communities.  Through force, fraud, and coercion, human traffickers violate a most basic right – to be free. Understanding that access to stable housing is critical to preventing …

02.08.23
Adapting a 100-year-old library for the future

Owatonna is a community of around 30,000 located one hour south of the Twin Cites. Built in 1901, the Owatonna Public Library has high ceilings and big windows that pull natural daylight deep into the library collection and programming …

02.07.23
Marshall County Courthouse restoration a symbol of resiliency

A symbol of resiliency for a community devastated by a EF-3 tornado in 2018 and again by an inland hurricane in 2020, the Marshall County Courthouse was re-dedicated on Nov. 19, 2022, exactly 136 years after the building …

08.27.21
Johnston Town Center incorporates public art

The intention of the new city hall was always to be a community anchor surrounded by public amenities, and it is exactly that. The Johnston Town Center is finally complete after the installation of their public art pieces, down …

04.22.21
How re-using buildings reduces embodied carbon

Designers make many decisions that directly affect a building’s impact on the environment.   One of the first – and potentially the most important – questions should be: “Is there an existing building we can use instead?” This is …