Services
Markets
Process
PROCESS
To be great, design must go beyond aesthetics. It must lead to solutions that elevate organizations and the communities they serve. Our individualized process uncovers, develops and produces solutions that advance organizations, translating unique, complex and hard-to-define visions into buildings and spaces rich in purpose.
Engagement is both the keystone and pinnacle of our integrated, nonlinear approach: We engage all project stakeholders, bringing multiple voices to bear on the vision and development of a space. Only this way can we empower people to take ownership in a project and enhance their organizations, together creating solutions that improve what they do.
ENGAGE + EMPOWER + ENHANCE
Listen
We listen to expectations and diverse points of view.
Discover
We discover new ideas and novel approaches.
Understand
We understand parameters, challenges and perspectives.
We listen, discover
and understand
Visualize
We visualize solutions and different ways to realize them.
Design
We design approaches based on shared understanding.
We visualize and design
Dialogue
We dialogue with clients about our proposed vision.
Respond
We respond to client feedback and insights.
Create
We create quality construction documents and manage an effective construction process.
We dialogue, respond
and create
Avera McKennan Hospital, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
When we began the process for envisioning a mental health treatment center for Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, we and our client quickly learned that there was no blueprint for what we were doing. The facility would be the first new mental health hospital west of the Mississippi in 15 years. As the CEO said, “We are not going to mimic best practices; we are going to define them."
Gathering Avera hospital leaders and staff, leaders from the surrounding community who dealt with mental health issues, and mental health experts from other organizations, we held workshops in which we brainstormed, facilitated, ideated, got to know the hospital staff and learned about the individuals the center would serve. Most of all, we listened — to multiple voices providing diverse perspectives. This is how Avera Behavioral Health Center was born.
Maple Grove Medical Campus: Test Room
After we completed our research phase for the Maple Grove Medical Campus and understood the project’s parameters and common aims, we committed ourselves to fully understanding how future design would impact a critical community: the caregiving staff, including nurses, doctors and other specialists. To do this, we set up a test room. This allowed us to comprehensively gauge the most labor-efficient and safe design that would best serve both staff and patients. It provided us with yet another way to gather critical feedback.
This example is not uncommon. For other health care projects, we’ve examined how to minimize the nurses’ steps, optimize caregivers’ work environments and create comforting but efficient patient spaces. Ultimately, our designs aim to provide thoughtful, innovative solutions unique to each client’s needs.
Eagle Brook Church, Lino Lakes, Minnesota
To make the construction experience the easiest on clients, and to make sure the future users of the spaces we create get the most out of their experiences, we pay strict attention to every detail. That is why we develop exact, impeccable construction documents and maintain the best of relationships with our contractors and partners.
When we finished construction of Eagle Brook Church in Lino Lakes, Minnesota, a member of our in-house construction administration department who served on the project said, “Everyone was so in sync that we were able to complete the project under budget." And not just our client was happy. After experiencing the new space, a parishioner said, “We absolutely love the facility. My 13-year-old son even loves it!" That’s the kind of experience we shoot for on every project.
