Lifting Up Little Ones
Highlights
Size: 3,600 sq. ft.
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Timeline: Completed 2024
Typologies: Adaptive Reuse - Commercial Architecture - Interior .Remodel - Mixed-Use
Collaborators
Greiner Construction (General Contractor)
Hyde Development (Developer)
Focal Point Fixtures (Cabinetry)
Setting the Scene
The design for this family mental health clinic began right before the start of the pandemic and finished shortly thereafter. This meant that the finished product came just in time to serve kids who’d been facing mental health challenges amid school closures and social isolation. We prepared Ellie’s space for this important work, transforming a previously dim and dingy historic building (that was mostly sunk underground).
Making It Happen
We designed a place that felt bright and airy — a light and positive place you’d want to walk into when seeking mental health therapy.
We worked with what we had, and we didn’t hide the old bones. We simply made them more suitable. How? By leaving concrete walls exposed but painting them bright white. And by warming things up with luminous light fixtures and a colorful interior design palette. We also prioritized the placement of therapy offices so that each one had a window. There were just enough pre-existing windows to go around.
We like to think that every building and every space is a special treasure with the potential for something great. Ellie thinks of their patients in the same way.
