The Pulse | September 2023

Upper Post Flats Honored (x3) at the 2023 FAB Awards

Congratulations to the BKV-designed Upper Post Flats for its sweeping win at the 2023?IIDA Northland?FAB Awards! On Friday evening,?BKV’s interior design team members?attended the 20th Annual FAB Interior Design Awards where the workforce and affordable housing community took home the win in the following three categories: Social Impact, Best Storytelling, and the prestigious Grand Award (an honor given by the jury to the best project out of all the submissions). As one jury member stated, "We were particularly moved by the depth of the story of Upper Post Flats – from the site's history over time to its present purpose as workforce housing focused on veterans. On top of that, the narrative told the trials and efforts to preserve and repair the structure and interior details (and repair again upon building collapses). It took us on a journey; as if we were reading a pitch from a Netflix documentary."?

Congratulations again to our Upper Post design team members, and to learn more about this unique project, click here: https://lnkd.in/gUfASNzm

BKV Receives F.I.E.R.O Honors

Unique in that all the jurors went to college for architecture but ended up as career firefighters instead the F.I.E.R.O. (Fire Industry Education Resource Organization) Design Awards look for fire stations that strike the balance between functionality and beauty. Congrats to our design teams on both wins!

Recognition Award | Springfield, Missouri Fire Station 4 | LINK

Merit Award | Henrico County Staples Mill Firehouse 20 | LINK

Bowline in the “Architecture Spotlight”

Weaving together history with residential design, the 160-acre Mississippi Crossings site in Champlin, Minnesota, was a thriving commercial district in the early part of the 20th century. Yet, from the 1980s until the early 2000s, the area was in decline and mostly known for its dilapidated commercial buildings. Enter?BKV Group?who worked with the City of Champlin and?Greco?to design a market-rate community featuring unique, outdoor amenity spaces, street-level walk-up units, and parking within a highly landscaped, park-like setting overlooking the Mississippi River. Officially named Bowline, the project was the recent recipient of an “Architecture Spotlight” via Multifamily & Affordable Housing Business who interviewed Managing Partner and Senior Design Leader,?Michael Krych, about the endeavor to bring new life to this historic site: https://lnkd.in/gpUa3fyS

Modera Katy Trail Named a Finalist in the AIA Dallas Built Design Awards

The annual awards, seeking out entries responsive to beauty, poetry, context, environmentalism, and social impact, gave the BKV-design Modera Katy Trail the honor of being a finalist in this distinguished awards platform.

A New Crossroads Project at Golden Triangle

On scenic Flying Cloud Drive is Eden Prairie's (MN) Golden Triangle –?a major regional employment center at the crossroads of three highways with more than 20,000 people traveling in and out of the area every day. As mixed-use demand continues to climb in the Twin Cities submarkets,?JLL,?Amstar, and?Greco Commercial Properties?with?Eagle Ridge Partners?saw an opportunity to create a dynamic, new development that has recently secured joint venture funding, and enlisted?BKV Group?as the lead designer. The development, which will be named at its official groundbreaking in October, features 425 multifamily housing units in three buildings on a small piece of the 15.3-acre site.?The first phase will have 237 units in two, 4-, and 5-story connected buildings with a mix of affordable and market-rate units. In both phases, 20% would be affordable to households at 50% of area median income, with 5% affordable at 80% AMI, and 75% market rate. Planned amenities in both phases run from “work-from-home” offices and a “coworking” lounge to an indoor/outdoor wellness center and a sun deck with pool and spa.?Read more about the new Golden Triangle development here:?https://lnkd.in/gqSezK9d

Waterford Bay and Bowline in the Class of Their Own

In NAIOP Minnesota’s Awards of Excellence, Waterford Bay Apartments (riverfront beauty with public spaces, kayak launch, and trail connection) and Bowline at Mississippi Crossings (a hub of community life in Champlin, MN with pickleball courts and an amphitheater) named were finalists, with Bowline named the eventual winner in the Multi-Family Low-Rise category!

Fridley Turns Five

An exemplary and award-winning project, the Fridley Civic Campus celebrated its fifth anniversary this past weekend with lead designer,?BKV Group, in attendance at the public event alongside?City of Fridley?community leaders and project stakeholders. The facility –?known best for seamlessly merging fire, police, city, and public work functions within one connected building –?is the central feature of Fridley's Columbia Arena Redevelopment Plan with the final product providing the community with an enduring, sustainable, and efficiently designed facility that Fridley can be proud of for the next 50 years.?Read the full story behind how the site and structure took shape here:?https://lnkd.in/grWXKsmh