Welcome to our Minneapolis studio

We are the Bold North. We call the tallest building on the Minneapolis skyline home. Our self-organizing studio is our playground for innovation – designed as a living laboratory and playful work in progress, it is a constantly evolving maker-space where we test new ideas for our clients, and fluidly share work across our diverse disciplines and practices.

Our entrepreneurial studio is fueled by curiosity, possibility, and making the world a better place. We geek out on research, data, and metrics to help get us there. We are no stranger to asking questions, taking risks, and experimentation; we have collectively incubated ideas that have transformed into industry-changing standards, policies, master plans, environments, and buildings that are creating a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable future.

IDS Center, 80 South Eighth Street
Suite 300
Minneapolis, MN 55402

t +16128515000

AIA Minnesota Firm Award Recipient 2019
Designing a brighter tomorrow, together. Our design manifesto for the next decade.
“We designed our studio to embody our core values of Sustainability and Equity, and actively live them out each day through our work and culture as we strive to design for the greater good.”

—Anne Smith, Corporate Interiors Practice Leader

Fun Fact
Our studio is self-organizing with 100% unassigned seating to support individual choice, teamwork, and collaboration
“Our studio is a diverse and dynamic place, where we can share our ideas with peers and mentors. This synergy is contagious and exciting and leads to truly diverse and sustainable possibilities.”

—David Lyon, Project Architect

Fun Fact
Our studio had the highest Leesman+ score in North America in 2018
Our project rooms are named to celebrate three brilliant interdisciplinary designers who directly or indirectly shaped our IDS Center and its place on Nicollet Mall:
Philip Johnson, Architect; Anna & Lawrence Halprin, Landscape Architects; and
Florence Knoll, Interior Designer.
Fun Fact
We were the first Fitwel certified commercial interior space in Minnesota, with 2 of 3 stars
“We’re fortunate to work within a space that’s defined by re-used and bio-based materials. The FSC-certified plywood millwork, wrappers, and frames are wonderful reminders to challenge the ubiquity of gypsum board in interior environments. Each plywood panel is unique – a beautiful registration of tree growth over the seasons.”

—Jill Vowels, Senior Project Architect

Our Minneapolis Leaders

People
Jennifer Christiaansen
Managing Director
People
Cara Prosser
Operations Director
People
Tony Layne
Design Director
People
Heidi Costello
Higher Education
People
Donovan Nelson
Health
People
Douglas Pierce
People
Lisa Pool
Planning and Strategies
People
Kristine Sallee
Health
People
John Slack
Urban Design
People
Anne Smith
Corporate Interiors
People
Jill Vowels
Higher Education
People
Amy Williams
Health
Jeff Ziebarth
People
Jeff Ziebarth
Higher Education
People
Adam Ariano
Transportation

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