Photos by Farm Kid Studios.

MINNEAPOLIS, July 30, 2024—The Hennepin County Public Works Facility in Medina, Minnesota, designed by Alliiance, is the 2024 recipient of the 25 Year Award.

Established by the American Institute of Architects Minnesota in 1981, the annual 25 Year Award celebrates a 25- to 50-year-old building or group of buildings whose architecture has stood the test of time. Projects competing for the award must be designed by firms with architects registered and practicing professionally in Minnesota.

The Alliiance project team for the Hennepin County Public Works Facility included John Lackens, AIA, Peter Vesterholt, AIA, Tom DeAngelo, FAIA, Scott Sorenson, Julie MacLeod, AIA, Ellen Olson, AIA, Greg Maxam, AIA, Peter Schroeder, AIA, Ken Sheehan, AIA, and Sharry Cooper. Project consultants and contractors included Dunham Associates (mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering), Barton-Aschman (civil and traffic engineering, landscape architecture), S-P Testing (onsite sewage system design), Enebak Construction Company (sitework), and Knutson Construction (building).

In 1998, Hennepin County decided to vacate its aging public works building and construct a new facility on a 146-acre greenfield site. In doing so, the county wanted the project to present a new paradigm for high-performing and environmentally friendly maintenance facilities.

The resulting complex sits atop a natural plateau surrounded by prairie and wetlands. Visitors approaching from the main road encounter a curvilinear 242,000-square-foot office and maintenance facility whose structures emerge from the rolling landforms, relating to the scale of the prairie and shielding neighbors from the noise and commotion associated with public works facilities. The curvilinear forms never reveal their full breadth to the community.

Hennepin County and the Alliiance design team conceived the complex as a “laboratory for sustainability,” experimenting with approaches that were novel at the time. An innovative grey-and-black water filtration system reuses water and reduces overall wastewater discharge. Numerous recycled, recyclable, and natural materials were specified. Extensive daylighting was built into the design, reducing overall energy consumption and boosting occupant health, comfort, and well-being.

The project provided valuable lessons for future Hennepin County building projects and later helped inform the State of Minnesota’s B3 Sustainable Building Guidelines, established in 2004. “Already government agencies from around the country are touring the project, hoping to copy it,” the Star Tribune observed at the time. “And architecture students are taking a keen interest.”

The 25 Year Award jury was impressed by how a public works building completed in 1998 was able to address multiple measures in today’s AIA Framework for Design Excellence, including design for Well-Being, Ecosystems, Integration, Water, Energy, Resources, and Change. The jury also noted how well the building has continued to serve Hennepin County in its original form. The only renovation was a 2018 update to an office area, also designed by Alliiance.

The 2024 25 Year Award jury included Laura Eder, AIA, Rebecca Muchow, AIA, John Pfluger, FAIA, Kaitlin Schalow, AIA, and Malini Srivastava, AIA.

The Hennepin County Public Works Facility and its architectural team will be honored at an awards event at the A’24 MN Conference on Architecture on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. Learn more about the 25 Year Award here.

The American Institute of Architects Minnesota, founded in 1892, is dedicated to advancing a vital profession, vibrant communities, and architecture that endures. For more information on the organization and Minnesota architectural firms, visit our website and subscribe to ENTER, our digital monthly newsletter that explores the people and ideas shaping a better built environment for Minnesota.