This free-standing jewelry store is prominently located in Waite Park across from Crossroads Center Mall.  In addition to the retail area, the design also incorporates private sales rooms and support spaces.  Special attention was given to the lighting in the space.  It was important that the natural daylighting was carefully controlled and augmented by artificial lights for proper viewing and display of the jewelry.  A Tuscan feel is incorporated into the design through the careful selection of colors and materials.

GLTArchitects was hired to remodel a well-known 1920s-era downtown building.  The 48,000 square foot renovated building includes a showroom, office space, product storage and truck receiving area.  The showroom features “pods”, mini-homes built with siding, windows and roofing materials that the company sells.  Inside each “pod” is a conference table for contractors to meet with clients.  The building was designed to use as much natural light as possible in the showroom and office area.  Floor-to-ceiling storefront windows were restored along St. Germain Street and salvaged windows from a torn-down neighboring building were used to pass light through interior walls.   The downtown building has gone through many hands since it was built in the late 1920s, including International Harvester and the Donlin Company.

GLTArchitects was again contracted by KDV, this time to help them with the design of new space for their Twin Cities’ office. They had recently acquired two firms and were looking to consolidate their offices in a new location.

KDV wanted a design that met their needs as efficiently as possible and also allowed for future expansion. We helped them assess 4 different properties, and they settled on Northland Plaza as their best option.

Using a comprehensive space programming effort, we were able to reduce the amount of area they needed before the design process even started. Combined with an efficient layout of the space, a 20% + reduction in the amount of rentable space needed was achieved.

It was also important that we design a space in Bloomington that was immediately recognizable to KDV clients, but that was still consistent with the upscale image of this top-notch property.  By blending some of the imagery of the St. Cloud office with some different material selections at the Bloomington office, we were able to meet this challenge and stay within a tight construction budget. All of this work had to be completed within just a few weeks to allow construction to start so KDV could occupy the space before their existing leases expired.