It seemed so simple. A representation of our abilities… and the paradigms and processes that we embrace…and a place for coffee… We are a Midwest design firm. We are rooted in a landscape of functional sculptures and relentless organic rhythms of crops all bounded by a Cartesian grid and where nearly anything can be fixed with the proper application of baling wire. It is a simple model. Our studio is intended to speak of this place in a way that does not cartoon the ideals we wish to reflect, but instead use deferential references that as an assembly will result in significance that is architecture - elevating the expectations of ourselves and acceptance of our clients. It is a simple goal. The studio is open. There are no offices, no rooms with doors except for the toilets. This is how we work and learn. It is a simple system. There is a place to make coffee. It’s that simple. Location: Des Moines, IA Program: Office Area: 3,500 SF Client: ASK Studio Photo Credits: Timothy Hursley
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The project provides an addition to house a 42 bed Residential Facility serving correctional clients from the community participating in work release programs or as conditions of their sentence. The addition also provides needed square footage to serve the probation, parole, and administrative functions of the facility. Approximately 3,600 square feet was remodeled in the existing building to enhance its operations and increase safety of the staff, public, and residents. The two story building is oriented to the south of the current facility with a connection to the existing building. The new design was based upon respecting the existing facility’s aesthetic and operations. It mimics the existing building in program, plan and materiality, but simply states its more contemporary origins. An added benefit of its plan is the partial enclosure it creates for a courtyard that is used by the residents. Slated to be a LEED certified building, the design maximizes healthy and energy conserving day-lit spaces throughout. Location: Sioux City, IA Program: Office/Residential Corrections Area: 18,550 SF Addition Client: Iowa Department of Corrections Photo Credits: Cameron Campbell, Integrated Studio
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“The Trusted Experts in Nutrition and Health” This project is about preserving and conveying the client’s corporate identity. The client wanted a building that imparts a reserved dignity. It is about making the building a complement to the client’s product; a structure that aims to exude the client’s commitment to innovation, technology and quality. To achieve this identity, the building is simple in plan and circulation. Working with a more or less monochromatic color scheme, adding hints of wood and red accents—the building presents itself as a clean, reserved structure—a destination to showcase a product. Location: Cedar Rapids, IA Program: Office Area: 15,585 SF Client: Diamond V Photo Credits: Cameron Campbell, Integrated Studio
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This project is one in a series of additions which have long been entrusted to Mike Kastner, Principal, AIA LEED AP, who has had decades of leadership in preserving and enhancing the mansion. The structure is an office space addition to an Art Deco mansion used as offices for an advertising and marketing agency. It is a restrained addition; a simple box that reflects the mansion’s application of varying punched apertures into a larger volume. Like its previous additions, this structure is kept to only two stories to respect the hierarchy of the original massing. The resulting minimal floor to floor heights allow for opportunities to expose systems and signify the “push” the form had on the envelope’s containment of technology. Location: Des Moines, IA Program: Office Area: 12,000 SF Addition Client: Boesen Homes, Ltd. Photo Credits: Cameron Campbell, Integrated Studio
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The structure serves as administrative offices, logistics center and public interface for a bus transit agency of a small city. It is to represent to the public an image of service through professionalism and efficiency. The users charge was simple; “Don’t let us look like a shop office stuck on a bus barn.” Overall, the building is treated as a machine of parts and purpose. The design encompasses queues of the bus, from the public “entry well” to the individual offices behind a streamlined series of apertures. Examples of efficiencies realized include the stacking of the program elements as well as the unique heating system that is supported by the captured waste heat of the nearby university power plant. The building serves as a radiator of a system larger than itself, a component that led to it earning the first municipal structure to achieve LEED Gold status in the State of Iowa. Location: Ames, IA Program: Office / Transportation Area: 10,000 SF Addition Client: Ames Transit Authority Photo Credits: Cameron Campbell, Integrated Studio
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This project is replacement of an existing aircare hangar. It is composed of a hangar for medical helicopters with maintenance shop, office, lounge and sleeping quarters. Central to its design is its solutions to resistance to the elements, solar orientation and ease of access. It is also slated for LEED certification. The building is simple in program and form. It is composed of three types of metal panels and glass. The contrast of the horizontally and vertically oriented metal panels help to balance the height of the structure with the vast, flat surrounding landscape. This juxtaposition, along with the shed top creates a “hat” that shelters and protects from the elements. Clerestories above the hangar doors provide daylight to the space inside. Location: Iowa City, IA Program: Aviation Area: 6,326 SF Client: University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Photo Credits: Cameron Campbell, Integrated Studio
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The client on this project is a feed ingredient supplier that is highly respected in its field. Always innovative in research and technology, it was important to the owner that the design of the building support the company’s corporate identity. The functionality of the warehouse and its parts depended on varying heights of spatial volumes. The interesting composition of the building’s form is created by careful organization of the program inside. Instances of color are used on both the exterior and interior. On the exterior, color is used to mark the entry as well as to create a rhythm on the façade. On the interior, the color is used to mark changes in program. The dynamic composition of this building in form, function and materiality follows the dynamic identity of the company it represents. Location: Cedar Rapids, IA Program: Office / Warehouse Area: 63,325 SF Client: Diamond V Photo Credits: ASK Studio
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