Form, Function and Aesthetics
Work in Partnership in Buildings Today

Helping Clients Balance Quality, Area and Program with Budget

Absolutely, says Grooters Leapaldt Tideman Architects (GLTA) Principal David Leapaldt. Leapaldt and his colleagues work closely with clients to create buildings that not only have the form to fit the function, but which are also visually exciting, award-winning designs.

"Our approach is to focus on the human interaction that will take place within a facility and then design a building that accommodates and enhances that interaction,"says Leapaldt.

According to Leapaldt, however, design can't stop there. "Because of the important role architecture plays in our society, buildings need to embody our humanity, even move the human spirit," he says. People experience their lives and work differently depending on the surrounding environment, Leapaldt claims. "Our goal is to design buildings that not only function, but make people feel good and perform their work more effectively."

The remodeling of Atwood Student Center at St. Cloud State University is one example of a pleasing and functional facility. "The synthesis of user input and architectural design works in this building," says Steve Ludwig, assistant vice president for facilities management. Atwood Center is the home of many diverse functions -- food service, retail areas, lounges, recreation, meeting rooms and offices.

GLTA Project Principal David Leapaldt says that it is no accident that Atwood Center works as well as it does. "We concentrated on making sure that all functions in Atwood would coalesce, from small items, like storage space for poster board, to large items, like campus traffic flow." GLTA invested tremendous energies in planning how people and spaces would interface. "The amount of time you spend preparing your program is returned in functionality many times over," observes Leapaldt.

Ludwig agrees. "I would advise owners who are building or remodeling not to think in terms of rooms, doors and windows, but rather, to think in terms of what they will be doing in the building. A good architect will figure out how to make the building meet those needs."

St. Cloud's Metropolitan Transit Commission's (MTC) Transit Center is another example of one building that functions well and is enjoyed by all who use it. Completed in 1992, the Transit Center serves as both the central transfer point for the community's public transportation system and as the local Greyhound Bus terminal. The design, which recalls a turn-of-the-century train station and complements the surrounding historic buildings, is visually stunning; it is also, according to MTC Executive Director David Tripp, extremely functional. "It not only works well, but it has done a lot to build a long-term positive image for the MTC and to reinforce the pride people take in the community."

The Transit Center won a 1993 Grand Award for the Best Commercial Project in the Sterling Award Competition sponsored by the National Association of Home Builder's National Commercial Builders Council. "Even though the Transit Center has only been open for a few years, people are already referring to it as a landmark, the kind of building people remember," observes Project Architect Daniel Tideman.