Noise, odor, and visual pollution don’t usually come to mind when picturing a pleasant residential neighborhood in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. But for a tight-knit community in Minneapolis that has abutted the city’s Hiawatha Maintenance Facility for nearly a century, pollution in many forms was a daily reality.
The public works site was “a real eyesore,” said Marc Partridge, AIA, CID, LEED AP, a senior associate at local design firm RSP Architects. According to Steve Maurelli, a project manager at RSP, the buildings on the 10-acre site were sorely in need of repair and maintenance. The sense of irony—that a facility devoted to maintenance could itself be so ill-kempt—added to the long-simmering tension between the city and the residents of the adjacent neighborhood, who for decades felt that the city was exploiting them by allowing this blot on their visual landscape.
PROJECT SUMMARY
Hiawatha Maintenance Facility, Minneapolis, Minn.
Building Team
- Owner/developer: City of Minneapolis
- Architect: RSP Architects (submitting firm)
- Structural engineer: Palanisami and Associates
- MEP engineer: Paulson & Clarke Engineering Inc.
- General contractor: Knutson Construction
General Information
- Size: 33,0000-sf office space; 28,000-sf maintenance bay, 20,500-sf storage area
- Construction cost: $10.8 million
- Completion date: June 2010
- Delivery method: Design-bid-build
Built in 1914 as a single brick warehouse and garage, the original building served as a horse infirmary for the local fire department. Population growth spurred the city to erect 18 more facilities, and for more than 90 years the Hiawatha facility has been home to the city’s streets and sewers department.
Tearing down the buildings and starting anew would have been a swift, albeit expensive solution, but the city wanted to preserve the rich history of the facility while also paying respect to the sensitivities of its neighbors.
“When we started this project, one of the goals was to recycle and reuse as much as we could,” said Greg Goeke, director of property services for the city of Minneapolis. The city’s Public Works Department has a “rich tradition” of public service, and repurposing the existing facilities was part of preserving that tradition. The result: about 98% of construction demolition waste from the project was reused.
Click here to view profiles of other reconstruction projects that have been recognized as part of BD+C's 28th Annual Reconstruction Awards.
New construction added space where needed without inflating the mass of the original structures. The original brick building was renovated to complement the surrounding community, while industrial materials were stored on the side of the building facing the highway, out of view of the neighbors.
A new circulating glass curtain wall brought light deep into the facility and made the exteriors more aesthetically pleasing. Recycled materials—metal beams, concrete slabs forming an exterior patio, and wood and bricks salvaged from the original blacksmith shop—lent an elegant but still understated feel to the façade.
According to RSP’s Partridge, an important goal of the renovation was to keep the building functional, not precious. “Public works is raw stuff, and we wanted the building to reflect that,” he said. “In terms of maintainability and the honesty of the materials, everything had a purpose. We wanted to make sure the palette was true to the work being done there.”
Effecting cultural change through design
Before the reconstruction began, city workers were isolated in their respective departments in various parts of the building, each group with its own lunchroom, kitchen, and equipment collection—a layout that lent itself to communication breakdowns and resulting inefficiencies.
2011 RECONSTRUCTION AWARD PRODUCT LIST
Hiawatha Maintenance Facility, Minneapolis, Minn.Structural Steel: MacSteel
Overhead Door Aluminum: Haas
Structural Deck: Vulcraft-Nucor
Corrugated Metal: CMI Inc.
Lockers: The Locker Guy
Precast Concrete: FabCon
Aluminum Storefront Curtainwall: Old Castle
Ready-mix: Cemstone
Hollow Core Planks: Molin
Remix P/6473 Carpet: Milliken
Windows DH: Pella
Aluminum Storefront Entrances and Doors: Old Castle
Light Gauge Metal Items: Clarkwestern
Louvera: Nystrom
Linoleum: Forbo
Metal Stairs: Lapeyer
Una-Clad: C Firestone
VCT Tile: Daltile
Thermal Batt Insulation: Owens Corning
Insulation: Johns Manville
Gypcrete Green 2000: Maxxom
Alucobond: Alcan
Modular Carpet: Lee's Carpet
Gypsum Board: National Gypsum
Flagpoles: Poletech
Vinyle Tile: Daltile
Gymspum Board: USG
Vinyl Tile: Daltile
Tread Riser: Nora
Rubber Base: Roppe
Rubber Tiles: Nora
Translucent Panel: Kalwall
Misc. Metal Shapes: Nucor
Structural Steel Joists: Vulcraft-Nucor
Overhead Steel Doors: DoorLink
The Building Team—which, in addition to RSP Architects, included Palanisami and Associates (structural engineer), Paulson & Clark Engineering (MEP engineer), and Knutson Construction (GC)—set to work with the municipal administration to find ways to maximize workflow by opening up the floor plan. “We did a lot of programming to see what resources and tasks could be shared between groups, and then designed the space so that the groups were thrown together in shared experiences,” said Partridge.
Today, the Hiawatha facility takes in 33,000 sf of office space over two floors, a 28,000-sf maintenance bay, and 20,500 sf of storage. It is home to five public works departments whose workforce has experienced something of a collective cultural change as a result of the new space adjacencies. “Making the building more open brought everyone together,” said RSP’s Partridge. Daily task work has improved, response times have quickened, and overall functionality has been streamlined.
“They now realize how much more collaborative their work really is,” he said.
A tough building complex that reflects the hardy work being performed inside—this is what the Building Team envisioned. And it works. “On a day-to-day basis, our employees have an environment that works much better for them without compromising [individual departmental] goals,” said the city’s Greg Goeke—and a great justification for the project to earn Gold honors from BD+C’s Reconstruction Awards jury.
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS a commitment to the community
During the planning of the Hiawatha Maintenance Facility, a directive from the city of Minneapolis required the Building Team—RSP Architects, Palanisami and Associates (SE), Paulson & Clark Engineering (MEP), and Knutson Construction (GC)—to achieve LEED Gold certification. But with the high level of reused materials—nearly 98%—the team was able to reach even higher.
“Not only does a public works facility need to protect the city, it also needs to protect the environment,” said Greg Goeke, the city’s director of property services. “We have high recycled content that made achieving environmental goals fairly easy.”
Old timber repurposed for millwork, recycled switchboards and crane rails, and salvaged metal beams supporting the site’s fueling station helped earn the project LEED Platinum for new construction, the city’s first municipal building to earn this rating. An old open-grate bridge that used to cross the Mississippi River was converted into a perimeter fence.
Artifacts of the building’s past are now displayed along the walls, paying homage to the building’s nearly century-long history. Old photographs, remnants of an old asphalt plant, and materials from the infirmary were reincorporated into the building construct.
The project’s high level of sustainability demonstrated the city’s commitment to the local community’s welfare, said Goeke. By the end of the process, residents who had started out mistrusting the project became its strongest advocates. “People now see that something built nearly a century ago still has value today,” he said. +
Related Stories
Resiliency | Jul 27, 2023
'Underground climate change' can damage building foundations, civil infrastructure
A phenomenon known as “underground climate change” can lead to damage of building foundations and civil infrastructure, according to a researcher at Northwestern University. When the ground gets hotter, it can expand and contract, causing foundations to move and sometimes crack.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 27, 2023
Number of U.S. adaptive reuse projects jumps to 122,000 from 77,000
The number of adaptive reuse projects in the pipeline grew to a record 122,000 in 2023 from 77,000 registered last year, according to RentCafe’s annual Adaptive Reuse Report. Of the 122,000 apartments currently undergoing conversion, 45,000 are the result of office repurposing, representing 37% of the total, followed by hotels (23% of future projects).
Hotel Facilities | Jul 26, 2023
Hospitality building construction costs for 2023
Data from Gordian breaks down the average cost per square foot for 15-story hotels, restaurants, fast food restaurants, and movie theaters across 10 U.S. cities: Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
Sustainability | Jul 26, 2023
Carbon Neutrality at HKS, with Rand Ekman, Chief Sustainability Officer
Rand Ekman, Chief Sustainability Officer at HKS Inc., discusses the firm's decarbonization strategy and carbon footprint assessment.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Jul 26, 2023
10 ways public aquatic centers and recreation centers benefit community health
A new report from HMC Architects explores the critical role aquatic centers and recreation centers play in society and how they can make a lasting, positive impact on the people they serve.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 25, 2023
San Francisco seeks proposals for adaptive reuse of underutilized downtown office buildings
The City of San Francisco released a Request For Interest to identify office building conversions that city officials could help expedite with zoning changes, regulatory measures, and financial incentives.
Designers | Jul 25, 2023
The latest 'five in focus' healthcare interior design trends
HMC Architects’ Five in Focus blog series explores the latest trends, ideas, and innovations shaping the future of healthcare design.
Urban Planning | Jul 24, 2023
New York’s new ‘czar of public space’ ramps up pedestrian and bike-friendly projects
Having made considerable strides to make streets more accessible to pedestrians and bikers in recent years, New York City is continuing to build on that momentum. Ya-Ting Liu, the city’s first public realm officer, is shepherding $375 million in funding earmarked for projects intended to make the city more environmentally friendly and boost quality of life.
Market Data | Jul 24, 2023
Leading economists call for 2% increase in building construction spending in 2024
Following a 19.7% surge in spending for commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings in 2023, leading construction industry economists expect spending growth to come back to earth in 2024, according to the July 2023 AIA Consensus Construction Forecast Panel.
Hotel Facilities | Jul 21, 2023
In Phoenix, a former motel transforms into a boutique hotel with a midcentury vibe
The Egyptian Motor Hotel’s 48 guest rooms come with midcentury furnishings ranging from egg chairs to Bluetooth speakers that look like Marshall amplifiers.