Work – Page 2 – ASK Studio

Prairie Business Park

by Brent Schipper· October 27, 2016· in · 0 comments

Located at the crossroads of interstate and highway, the Prairie Business Park offers leaseholders a highly visible location with brand identity. The Park is industrial in form, structure and purpose; still, its exterior marks it unique. Alternating masses of grey and white add visual appeal through repetition, while also drawing attention to the building’s signage. The inclusion of colored graphics transform basic windows into something more engaging for passing traffic. While Prairie Business Park remains industrial in program; it elevates the aesthetic of industrial building and is a testament to the importance of design. Location: Grimes, IA Program: Industrial Area: 260,000 SF Client: R&R Realty Group Photo Credits: Tara Maurer
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Marel

by askstudio-wp_soho· July 27, 2016· in · 0 comments

The interior architecture of this space, used by a manufacturer of food production machinery, is to reinforce this multinational company’s commitment to innovation. The design began with the procession of staff and visitors. A path was plotted from the front door, where visitors are given views of test kitchens and equipment demonstration areas, and led visitors through the facility along a datum referred to as the “Innovation Corridor”. This corridor takes everyone passed and through the business activities of accounting, customer service and marketing, where it ultimately leads to the engineering department aptly titled “Innovation.” The resultant space is the product of using an existing rhythm overlaid with a procession to a goal. The drama of these simple parameters makes a space that is unique to the people and their product. Location: Des Moines, IA Program: Office Area: 36,000 SF Client: Marel, Inc. Photo Credits: Cameron Campbell Integrated Studio
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Adair County Engineer Building

by Brent Schipper· July 27, 2016· in · 0 comments

The Adair County Engineer needed additional office space; this goal required assembling a simple program within an unadorned shell that formally referenced the existing structures on site. Concrete serves as the floor in this new office building. The choice was necessitated by the fact that the office would see a lot of muddy feet and the floor would need to withstand frequent cleaning. The reflective floor surface highlights the colors that were used to accent the interior. Circulation spaces are defined by a green color on the ceiling while the reception and conference room sport an orange that is a nod to the paint on the trucks the department uses on a daily basis. The interior walls of the public space are given warmth by knotty pine tongue and groove car siding which helps to differentiate the public axis from the private offices. Location: Greenfield, IA Program: Office Area: 2,500 SF Client: Adair County Engineer Photo Credits: Tara Maurer and Brent Schipper
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Iowa Prison Industries Outlet

by askstudio-wp_soho· March 04, 2016· in · 0 comments

The structure serves as a wholesale showroom of products made by prisoners in the State Prison System. It is located near the historic state capital complex on a busy urban artery. The unique challenge of this project was to design and build a building in six months with a budget of $85 per square foot, and, due to a fear of vandalism, no windows. An inspired design was created due in large part to an appreciation of the neighborhood as well as inspiration drawn from the culturally founded elements in the works of Luis Barrágan. Persuading the owner that slit windows and polycarbonate panels would resist vandalism, the building transformed from a windowless shed to one that engages the streets with apertures that also gather light to showcase the prison wares inside. While the building remains a shed in form, structure and purpose, it is a good neighbor. Location: Des Moines, IA Program: Warehouse/Showroom Area: 8,500 SF Client: Iowa Prison Industries; Iowa Department of Corrections Photo Credits: Cameron Campbell Integrated Studio
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ASK Studio Office

by askstudio-wp_soho· March 04, 2016· in · 0 comments

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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Third Judicial District Community Corrections

by askstudio-wp_soho· March 04, 2016· in · 0 comments

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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Diamond V Headquarters

by askstudio-wp_soho· March 04, 2016· in · 0 comments

“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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Butler Mansion

by askstudio-wp_soho· March 04, 2016· in · 0 comments

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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CyRide | Ames Transit Authority

by askstudio-wp_soho· February 19, 2016· in · 0 comments

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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UIHC AirCare Hangar

by askstudio-wp_soho· February 15, 2016· in · 0 comments

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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