Shelter has received two ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) National FOCUS Awards for our Luminary Arts Center and River Prairie Wealth Partners projects. These honors were in the Community FOCUS category & Wellness FOCUS category for small firms.
About ASID National Awards
These awards are annually bestowed upon individuals, firms, and projects across the country that exemplify excellence in design across a variety of categories. The FOCUS Awards, two of which we’ve been honored with, spotlight stellar work that addresses global issues around health, equity, and sustainability in the built environment. The goal of the FOCUS Awards is to recognize projects designed with intent for impact. Shelter was honored at this year’s ASID National Gather Conference in August. Read more about the awards in ASID’s press release.
Community FOCUS Award
This award is bestowed upon a project that responds to challenges around community cohesion & resilience.
Design opportunities:
Opened as the Guthrie Lab in 1988, the newly branded Luminary Arts Center is an 8,000-square-foot stone box with 30-foot ceilings, carved out of the foundation of a historic Minneapolis warehouse. Its new owner, Minnesota Opera, and other performing arts groups, present an eclectic mix of exciting, entertaining, thought-provoking productions in the space.
The Opera acquired the Luminary Arts Center to amplify underheard community voices, strengthen bonds among diverse populations, and welcome new audiences to less mainstream productions. The Luminary’s name – selected with input from theater users, BIPOC and accessibility advisory committees – exemplifies the theater’s role in elevating and illuminating the work of community artists. To be true to this mission, the Opera realized the decades old space was in need of substantial upgrades to accommodate a wider range of users and productions while promoting a sense of community amongst diverse populations.
Area artists have long treasured the theater’s unique traits, especially its natural stone wall that serves as a beautiful backdrop. But the venue was also known for key shortcomings and challenges it posed whenever someone mounted or attended a show there. Simply put, updates were needed. Space planning needed to better address the needs of more performers, technicians, and audiences. Dilapidated green rooms didn’t serve artists with limited mobility, nor were they gender-inclusive. Ditto for the restrooms — and they didn’t accommodate enough people, either. Seating didn’t suit patrons of all abilities, and capacity was too low. Load-in facilities required difficult — often unsafe — procedures to move equipment. The “lobby” was a small, utilitarian ticket window separated from the rest of the space. And the entire building was largely disconnected and invisible from its vibrant neighborhood.
Design solutions:
Minnesota Opera’s vision statement commits to “inspire hope, empower all voices, and strengthen bonds between people of all backgrounds and identities.” The Luminary Arts Center renovation exemplifies these goals by accommodating a greater variety of performances and providing a building that serves as a conduit for connection among a more diverse array of community artists and audiences. Creating a gender-neutral environment produced a safer, more inviting venue, and thoughtful space planning supports inclusion and equity among all who enter.
The renovation was approached with a commitment to maintain the historical and inspirational qualities of the space while improving accessibility, inclusion, and safety to build a more resilient community space for both those working in the theater and enjoying performances in it. Among the goals for the design was avoiding the appearance of gentrification of the space which had been an oft-used staple in the neighborhood for 35 years.
Designers created a brighter, welcoming entrance and lobby with large street-side windows to strengthen community visibility and connection. The new floor plan invites attendees — including those using wheelchairs — to take in a spectacular view of the performance area from the upper level staircase overlooking the stage below. An elevator formerly tucked away in a dark corner (barely noticeable without assistance) is now in plain sight, adjacent to the grand stairway. Patrons choosing either method to descend wind up in the same spot.
All restrooms are now gender-neutral, consisting of enclosed individual stalls and shared sink areas. This alleviates confusion and conflict, and ensures privacy and safety for all (including, not only transgender and nonbinary users, but also caregivers who must accompany children or adults). Some stalls are wheelchair-accessible, and some include changing tables — including one sized for older children and adults. Performers’ dressing rooms, including showers, are also gender-neutral and wheelchair-accessible now, too.
Other changes — including a new tension-wire lighting grid and a redesigned load-in area — have improved safety, efficiency, and flexibility for performers and technicians. Not everything in the space has changed, though. The stage still offers its stunning, dramatic stone backdrop. But with renovations complete, there’s now a wider array of artists in front of it, partaking in a broader range of productions to entertain, engage, educate, and represent a more diverse audience.
Project collaborators:
Builder – LS Black Constructors
Structural Engineer – Meyer Borgman Johnson
Consulting & Engineering – Quetica
Real Estate Consultant – NTH
Acoustics Consultant – Kirkegaard
Lighting Designer – Schuler Shook
Wellness FOCUS Award
This award is bestowed upon a project that promotes strategies around user health and wellness.
Design opportunities:
River Prairie Wealth Partners, a private wealth advisory practice, wanted a new, long-term home in a more walkable, up-and-coming area that would be a reflection and extension of their holistic approach to wellbeing. RPWP doesn’t focus solely on helping people build wealth for wealth’s sake. Rather, they emphasize financial wellness. This practice helps people find the means to pursue their most precious dreams, and to feel more confident, connected, and in control of their lives.
The firm envisioned a vibrant, nourishing environment — highly productive and exceedingly healthy — that would help staff and clients enjoy success together. This included having abundant access to daylight, clean air, social interaction, and places of refuge. RPWP also wanted the building to be culturally connected to its part of the world by providing opportunities for occupants to forge ongoing sensory connections with the weather, seasons, and time of day.
Formerly housed in a suburban office complex, RPWP charged us with creating a welcoming, airy space within the confines of industry privacy requirements. The nature of a wealth advisory firm’s work requires the management of sensitive financial data which was a guiding consideration in the design, including details as specific as desk and monitor arrangements. The “bullpen” area in particular needed to embody a sense of “open privacy”.
The design also needed to take advantage of the neighborhood’s foot traffic, enticing passers-by to feel compelled to “hang out”. RPWP wanted an approachable, comfortable facility with a contemporary, high-quality ambiance that felt neither stuffy nor overly “showy”. They wanted to challenge the status quo of the typical office design for their industry. The space needed to accommodate staffing projections, workflows, day-to-day processes, and privacy restrictions that RPWP’s business requires all while promoting physical and mental health for employees and clients.
Design solutions:
To encourage community gathering within the building, we incorporated a street-facing lounge with a coffee shop-like concept including a fireplace and comfortable seating, invoking the “Up North” vibe the region famously embraces. The lounge hosts clients and events, but it’s also a reminder for team members to pause, take a breath, and connect with one another. The space exemplifies the importance RPWP places on nurturing relationships.
Integrating biophilic design elements and material selections that reflect the landscape while emphasizing access to sunlight and outdoor views were additional priorities to promote wellness. Material choices connect inhabitants to nature by contributing soothing levels of light and a variety of textures and colors found in the building’s surroundings. The custom front entry countertop and interior wood canopy embody this. Carpeted areas also add a sense of calm by mitigating noise, and products with little to no off-gassing maintain air quality.
Light and views were another focus, especially in the building’s central “bullpen” workspace. We implemented a light-box concept where a raised, central roof section lined with windows provides clear views of the sky, allows sunshine to pour in, and creates a larger volume to catch light.
The bullpen’s walls are glass, so occupants can look outside at picturesque views of forested parklands. The building also features options to help workers maintain focus. Sit-stand desks are available, conference rooms can be right-sized to suit various group sizes, and private spaces offer places of refuge and privacy.
Project collaborators:
Builder – Market & Johnson
Structural Engineer – A.M. Structural Engineering
Systems Engineer – Apex Engineering Group
Engineering Consultant – Ayres Associates
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