Archives

1. 101 Dupont Place

   Originally serving as the headquarters for DuPont de Nemours, Inc., the Dupont Building is an iconic building within the Rodney Square Historic District in downtown Wilmington. This project involved transforming the historic 13-story building into luxury apartments and office space. Through a neutral materials palette, the design honors the legacy of the building, while reinterpreting classic detailing with a modern approach to keep the building timeless. In an effort to preserve as much of the building’s historic fabric as possible, the executive conferencing suite with a two-story boardroom has been converted into a club room,  lounge, theater, and coworking space. Other amenities include a gym, dog wash station, and roof deck with dramatic views of downtown.

    

    

    

2. Drexel University College of Media Arts and Design URBN Center

   The respectful repurposing of a landmark Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates (VSBA) decorated shed provides a new home for Drexel University’s College of Media Arts and Design (CoMAD). Key goals driving the project included bringing disparate CoMAD departments together in one location and encouraging cross-collaboration between disciplines. To transform the office building and annex (once a daycare center), the design concept focuses on respecting the original intent, making more with less, and providing opportunities for learning by doing.

3. Carleton College Weitz Center for Creativity

   The Weitz Center serves as a working laboratory for creativity—not only in the arts, but across the entire curriculum. It positions the college as a national leader in arts programs by creating an environment that fosters creativity, critical thinking, collaborative working skills, and cross-cultural exploration. An adaptive reuse and expansion of a former middle school complex, the center houses the departments of studio arts, dance and theater, and cinema and media studies. It incorporates classrooms, studios, a teaching museum, performance spaces, and state-of-the-art collaborative spaces.

    

    

    

4. Mount Curve Modern Residence

   The design respects the existing aesthetic of this significant work of mid-century modernism—originally designed by University of Minnesota architecture professor Robert Bliss—while incorporating new amenities. The kitchen has been expanded into the former maid’s room and includes an adjacent sitting area with a fireplace. The design connects this space to the dining and living rooms and terrace beyond by opening an existing oak-clad wall, which is detailed to match the original. The master bedroom suite includes a bath with a Japanese soaking tub and custom cabinetry designed to match the existing millwork found throughout the home. Adjacent to the garage, the former chauffeur’s room has been converted into a guest suite.

5. Aimia U.S. Headquarters

   Following the success of a previous tenant improvement project in a suburban office park, Aimia hired the same MSR design team to design its new space. With its new office, Aimia has moved to a mobile working employee strategy. Offering a limited number of dedicated workstations, the new environment instead features diverse spaces to accommodate varying work styles and meeting requirements. Employees can choose to work from home, in the office, or on the road while traveling, depending on individual schedules and needs. Three different color-coded (green, blue, and purple) neighborhoods provide differentiation and facilitate wayfinding.

6. Wooddale Church Youth Center

   This renovation turns closed space inside-out and provides access to daylight for all classrooms and gathering spaces. New wayfinding and circulation paths create community connections, while providing secure spaces for pre-K and elementary school youth. Energizing color, playful graphics, and complementary materials establish variety and help navigate visitors to various areas and activities. The church knitting club also enjoys meeting on the spinner seats in the new space, demonstrating that all ages can find inspiration in environments that stimulate creativity and learning.

7. Bush Lake Kitchen

   This couple’s desire to reconfigure their dated kitchen created an opportunity to make it function better as the primary social space and heart of their home. Inefficiently laid out, the existing kitchen restricted the number of people who could cook, bake, and can together in it. To address this constraint, the design team created an expansive open environment by removing a wall adding on an underutilized office space and the existing kitchen. This expansion not only increased the size of the kitchen, but also created new possibilities for collaboration and social gathering. Other limitations to the existing kitchen included wall ovens that were too small for larger cookie sheets and other items; tired looking maple cabinets, trim, and floors; and a layout that provided only uninspired views within the house.

   The new kitchen includes a 16′ x 5-1/2′ island that provides ample workspace for three to four people to cook harmoniously together as well as for friends and family to gather around. Positioned strategically, the island invites views out the windows and glass doors to Bush Lake and the nature preserve beyond. To further bring the outside inside, the once-isolated three-season porch is now seamlessly connected to the rest of the house through a wide, four-panel glass door system. The new kitchen design also includes an efficient storage system, tailored to the couple’s specific needs, that ensures a clutter-free and organized environment where everything has its proper place. The reconfigured kitchen supports more entertaining, accommodating larger groups in the eating area. Allowing family and guests to be present in the kitchen without being intrusive, the kitchen fosters a sense of togetherness as a true hub of social interaction.

   MSR Design served as architect for the project, with Fontaine Designs, LLC, providing interior design services.

8. Trolley Quarter Flats

   Located on the Wisconsin River on the edge of downtown, the site presented challenges. A dilapidated, but structurally-sound trolley shed and wood super-structure (used to lift carriages off the trolley platform for repairs), located on the site, were the last remnants of Wausau’s street trolley system, which operated from 1906 to 1940. Understanding the historic significance of these structures, the developer and design team preserved and incorporated them into the design. The 40-unit complex includes private outdoor areas for all dwelling units, private garden plots for each ground level unit, play and study areas for children inside and outside the building, community space for adults, and parking. It has served as a catalyst for further revitalization of the surrounding neighborhood and to strengthen Wausau’s downtown.

9. McAllen Main Library

   With an area equivalent to nearly 2 1/2 football fields, the building is the largest single-story library in the U.S. The designers had the old store interior and new mechanical systems painted white to form a neutral shell for patron and service areas, which are designated with color. Primary program areas—including community meeting rooms, the children’s library, adult services, and the staff area—are located in quadrants of the building. This clear organization allows easy wayfinding and customer access from a central service spine, delineated by a patterned wood ceiling that runs the length of the building.

   MSR Design led the design of the building interior and furniture selection as part of a team led by McAllen-based firm Boultinghouse Simpson Gates Architects.

10. Open Book

    A renovation of three conventional, historical buildings, the center responds fully to the client’s goals by embracing budget limitations, the buildings’ existing conditions, and the missions of the three organizations. The design incorporates literal detailing and judicious editing in the lyrical composition and intervention of old and new.