The YWCA Empower Center is transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness on a site which had long been a public park. The project, like most, began with the site. After neighborhood concerns eliminated the first location, local government placed the needed project on a city-owned parcel used as public green space. The site suited residents because it was close to services. It allowed the park to become a home, a refuge beyond the park benches. The site presented many challenges, but also compelling opportunities. The program called for 24 efficiency apartments, offices, and a community room that could become a coffee shop serving an outdoor terrace. The parti is simple: stacked units on three floors, with most apartments above for security and offices occupying much of the ground floor. The rectilinear plan follows the street grid, then shifts at the community spaces. There, the coffee shop and smoking deck align with the city grid that turns toward the Mississippi River three blocks away, expressing residents’ empowerment to make choices and participate in community life. Materials reinforce the site narrative. The two public sides use brick and punched openings proportioned after the historic building across the street, renovated by the design […]
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The design of the Union at River’s Edge is based on capitalizing on the qualities of a site: it affords proximity to Des Moines’s city center and extraordinary views the Raccoon River with an urban backdrop, including Principal Park. It is visible from the buildings of the city’s center and thousands of vehicles exiting downtown every day. The design is also guided by the principles of new urbanism. Fundamentally, the project increases the density of the city core, advancing the discernable center. It creates river edge that focuses on the building rather than parking. It engages the street with diversity of purpose and great care to movement across the river by pedestrians and bikers with an anchoring green space. It’s introduction to the community is a reclamation of the river’s edge. The Union at River’s Edge meets the 1,000 Friends of Iowa’s mission by promoting responsible land use in a community and utilizing smart growth principles - the use of an underutilized site which was industrial and sustainably incompatible with the river and development of the core. The highest and best use of this site is the fundamental tack in preserving the importance of a city center and making sound […]
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Bar Nico Bar Nico Craft The space was conceived as a porch. An approachable post-covid space that was open to the sidewalk like a café, but also part of the party…at arm’s length. The success of the space was predicated on the openings of the porch. When closed they needed to be a quiet part of the street’s storefront fabric. When open they needed to make the wall a memory. The owner said he would have “Boonie” make some “doors”. There was eye-rolling amongst the design team. Until they were installed. When closed they needed to be a quiet part of the street’s storefront fabric. When open they needed to make the wall a memory. The hardware was beautiful. The motions and movement are poetic. The levers are art. The straight- line gears look like foliage on a metal seedling. The “doors” are light visually, heavy physically and balanced in both spectrums… This is craft. . Location: Des Moines, IA Program: Commercial Area: 2,000 SF Photo Credits: Cameron Campbell Integrated Studio
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Women and Childrens Center The Women’s and Children’s Center is a story of community needs, team synergy, and an old school building. The Douglas Elementary building from 1965 helped make this project feasible; with good bones and existing interior programing that lent itself to the educational and client support spaces required by Hope Ministries. Its iconic mid-century concrete structure became the centerpiece of the interior design. Care was taken to thoughtfully design the MEP systems around this exposed structure to maintain the purity of the rhythm. Walls, plumbing, and electrical systems were selectively adapted for economy. With the existing 2nd floor programming remaining almost completely original at the classrooms. The exterior followed this approach, with only curtain wall systems and the roof membrane being replaced. An addition was made off the west end of the building to meet the flexibility needed for the living areas and another off the north – for the elevator and facility introduction. Materials and finishes were selected to create a calming residential environment and nod to the Hope Ministries color palette. The Women and Children’s Center is a self-contained community for career readiness training, practical life skills classes, educational opportunities and more. All organized […]
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Acutely angled, metal-clad forms on a building exterior express Broken Arrow Wear LLC’s branding and company culture. The T-shirt printing and embroidery business was created with an addition to, and retrofit of, a former fast-food restaurant. The structure remains simple, a continuation of a humble wood frame. The envelope is a combination of new and existing, but the form is a derivation of the company’s name: Broken Arrow. The street façade is an exclusive conveyed through an amalgam of angles with conspicuous breaks. The angular planes are fashioned from curtainwall, stainless steel shingles and metal panels. Location: Des Moines, IA Program: Commercial Area: 5,628 SF Photo Credits: Cameron Campbell - Integrated Studio
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The Walnut Creek Regional Park Shelter is a structure that gives identity to a City’s park system and is the major built component of a regional park. The building uses a simple functional layout with an emphasis on form to create a civic gesture on a modest budget. The shelter contains restrooms and protected cover to the park users. The roof form gives drama to the space and the use of natural materials allows the form to sensitively fit the natural beauty of the site. Brick is used for longevity and low maintenance while the soaring roof form adds warmth to the space conceived as a century structure. The form is set away from the road for privacy of use and to draw people into the park through the invitation of the roof form. The shelter is designed for this place and creates this place. Location: Urbandale, Iowa Program: Government/Civic Area: 2,730 Sq Ft Client: City of Urbandale - Parks and Rec Photo Credits: Joseph Kastner
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Riverview Park was an amusement park operating from 1915 to 1978. The park included the Riviera Ballroom, a nationally-known venue. No remnants remain. The site is bare. Riviera Stage is the celebration of a city’s history and a neighborhood’s pride. It is a venue for performance intended to echo the purpose and import of the Riviera Ballroom, which once hosted the likes of Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Lawrence Welk and Glenn Miller. The modern form of the structure belies a series of historical references woven into the design. The open-air venue harkens back to the Riviera’s original open-air design with open side walls and exterior seating areas, the barrel trusses reflect the past legend’s structure and the stage will rest near the spot where the Duke once thrilled crowds. The design’s celebration is rooted in making a place for a vibrancy that has been hushed for nearly four decades. It creates a spirit of adventure through soaring elements that recall the daring of yesterdays “Coaster” and “Wild Mouse”. It is intended to be magical—just like all the ghost structures of the island. The island will again be home to legends, laughter and dancing. Location: Des Moines, Iowa Client: City […]
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Greater Connections Childcare Center Greater Connections Childcare Center is a daycare that creates a supportive environment for learning, play, and growth – from infancy to adolescence. The plan is organized to maximize security and control at the main entry, create separate access for support services, and provide development spaces with direct access to outdoor play spaces. All spaces are connected to a single classroom mainstreet. Interior windows, set at varying heights speak to an audience of all ages – providing visual security for staff, a chance for parents to observe, and a glimpse into the future for younger occupants. The simple gabled rectangular building form embraces an economy of structure. Volumes are cut out of this rectangular form to create shelter, a play of light and shadow, and opportunity for material transitions. The vibrant red color signifies points of public access. The larger windows, signified by a colorful frame, emphasize entry to classrooms while allowing generous natural light. Greater Connections makes connections between indoor/outdoor and learn/play that make it a journey. Location: Creston, IA Program: Education Area: 14,544 SF Photo Credits: Joseph Kastner
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The library was a gift from the Carnegie Foundation steeped in heritage and its existing historic fabric was critical. The new addition had to echo this character. We closely read its past through photographs, learning its language. We then wrote a considered sequel. The new roof shrugs beneath the elder roof, a respectful gesture to the latter’s age. Inside new finishes and lighting carefully highlight important features of the old library while enlightening readers. A central entry hall binds the new program to the old structure while giving more visitors access. The project team closely observed every aspect, including a railing in the entry hall and the furniture that would fill the space; in this architecture, as in writing, the punctuation was as important as the narrative. It is a thoughtful extension to a repository of thought. Location: Bloomfield, IA Program: Public Client: City of Bloomfield Photo Credits: Cameron Campbell Integrated Studio
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