The Rock Island Depot in Stuart Iowa served as the hub of the community from its construction in 1868 until passenger service was abandoned in the 1950’s. For over 40 years the building sat empty and unused, slowly rotting away. The railroad gifted the property to the City of Stuart in the mid 1980’s and for the next 30 years a local citizens group struggled to save the building from the savages of time. After several failed restoration and redevelopment attempts Knowles Blunck Architecture was retained in 2013 to lead the restoration process.
Upon being hired Knowles Blunck undertook an extensive review of the previous renovation plan and identified several items that were either unnecessarily costly, or inappropriate for a historical restoration. This exercise eliminated over $100,000 of construction costs and made the project eligible for Historic Tax Credit funding, thus creating the opportunity for additional funds to come to the project.
Work required to bring the building back to life was extensive. The floor and ceiling had completely rotted away, there was no plumbing or electrical service, and the exterior brick had been painted over in a poor cosmetic fix. The restoration plan called for installing a new wood floor, smooth plaster ceiling, and the restoration of all the windows, wainscoting and wall plaster, which all miraculously had survived the years of neglect. All new electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems were installed along with a new restroom, the first one the depot has ever had.
The result has been a building transformed into not only usable community space, but a symbol and icon for what can be accomplished with the right architect and leadership.
Photography by Matt Niebuhr
The Crane Building, built in 1908, was a former toilet manufacturing facility and warehouse constructed in the Turner system, consisting of reinforced concrete flat slabs with ornate mushroom capital columns. Vacant for over a decade Knowles Blunck Architecture led the effort to restore the building and convert its open factory floor plate into artist loft housing.
Drawing upon decades of museum and historic renovation experience Knowles Blunck conceived of the project as a live-work museum for artists where cross-pollination and exchange of ideas is encouraged. The corridors and common rooms became galleries where up-and-coming artists can display their work in a professional setting. Artist specific amenities include a pottery and painting studio, flexible dance and performance space, and a sound isolated music lab. A rooftop terrace incorporating green roof elements and a place for a community vegetable garden is located above the underground garage and provides further space where artists can congregate and display their work.
As the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places a careful analysis of all remaining historic architectural building features had to be performed and such features incorporated into the final design.
Photography by Assassi Productions & Matt Niebuhr
Set in an affluent development alongside the Missouri River this private residence was designed to maximize views and daylight, yet still provide a sense of privacy and intimacy. This is achieved through the use of a twisted roof plane that bathes the master suite in light in the morning, and illuminates the living room late in the day, following the natural day-to-day routine of the clients.
Living spaces are elevated one story above grade and are supported from three cast in place concrete walls with a steel frame spanning between. This was done to help protect against structural damage when the river floods. It also serves a dual purpose of preserving views from the street to the river, something no other property in the development manages to do.
Photography by Assassi Productions
A mixed-use development incorporating a 1600-car parking facility, 20,000 gsf of retail, and a 32,000 gsf book store. The client requested that the new complex respond to the materiality of the existing architecture on campus, consisting primarily of brick buildings, while providing an energy efficient facility that aspires to be equivalent to a LEED Silver certification-an example that all buildings can be environmental stewards.
A progression on previous experience with the parking typology, the building was decidedly clad with terra cotta baguettes such that the scrim of the envelope is used to provide privacy during the day and safety at night. The book store is also planned to be clad in terra cotta. The overall conposition of this complex is drawn together by intermediate hard-scape spaces carved in anticipation of people inhabiting and interacting with each other during their every use.
Photography by Timothy Hursley & Assassi Productions
Knowles Blunck Architecture has had a long association with the Des Moines Art Center. In 1980, Kirk Blunck worked closely with David W. Scott, a member of the staff of the National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington D.C. to prepare the final document which served as a program statement for the Richard Meier wing, up to today when Knowles Blunck Architecture completed an expansion for storage improvements. Throughout the years Knowles Blunck Architecture has completed many project and studies for the Des Moines Art Center. These projects include the restoration of the Saarinen Studio & Office Wing, Blank Galleries renovation, museum shop remodeling, capital improvements study, entrance improvements, accessibility improvements, and art storage and handling expansion.
Photography by Assassi Productions & Knowles Blunck Architecture
This historic church was built from 1908-1910 in the Byzantine and Romanesque style with an Italian Baroque interior. It served the Catholic parish in the Stuart area and was once voted the “most beautiful church in Iowa” by the readers of The Des Moines Register. In 1995, an arsonist set the church on fire to, in his words, “take the heart and soul out of a small town”. After the fire the parish elected to build a new church at a different location, and the ruins sat abandoned for over 12 years.
Finally, in 2006 community leaders, fearing the collapse of their architectural icon, banded together for one last effort to save the ruins of the building and convert it into a community center. By 2008 enough money had been raised to save what remained and to begin the transformation.
Because the building was no longer going to be used as a church, it had to be made flexible to function for multiple events. Care was given to restore the exterior as close as possible to the original appearance of the building. The interior spaces were designed to highlight exposed physical elements of the building as well as its structural components and masonry composition. The design has provided the opportunity for future restorations without necessitating the removal of work that was done during this project.
This much-needed public space now serves as host to concerts, school events, weddings, family gatherings, conferences and more.
Photography by Matt Niebuhr & Assassi Productions
Located within a suburban mixed use development this building was designed to integrate indoors with outdoors, and respond to traditional Iowa vernacular architecture.
The building is organized around a large central double height space with glass on the east and west. This central volume provides clear communication between parking to the west, and the plaza to the east. Views are maintained by keeping program space (i.e., kitchen, bar, and restrooms) pushed to the north and south, framing the central hall. The speculative shell building was organized in a simple manor to maximize its lifespan and flexibility should a new tenant occupy the building in the future.
Materiality is deliberately kept simple with stained cedar slat siding, weathering steel, and glass making up the exterior composition. The result of combining this palette of materials produces a familiar vernacular architecture that is warm and tactile, yet strikingly modern.
Photography by Cameron Campbell, AIA, Integrated Studio
The mission of this project is to design educational programs for a major state university and surrounding community to foster understanding and appreciation of varied cultural histories and differences for all members of the community.
The project is a gut remodel within the university Beaux-Arts memorial union. The location of this project within the memorial union builds upon, and contributes to, that structure’s cultural position as a social, recreational, and educational center for the university. Programmatically, the project consists of a reception and display area, central lounge, flexible meeting spaces, a library/study, kitchen, shared office and work spaces, and counseling areas.
The university and its staff sought a comfortable and welcoming environment to foster a sense of community between students, staff, and faculty of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Photography by Cameron Campbell, AIA, Integrated Studio
What is now known as Des Moines Historic East Village encompasses a 32 square block area positioned between the State of Iowa Capitol on the East and the City of Des Moines Municipal Building and Des Moines River on the west. It was at one time among the states most vibrant and most diverse commercial centers. The late 1950’s and 1960’s were a time of steady decline, leaving an area of largely vacant buildings and surface parking lots.
KB Architecture and Kirk Blunck played a key role in the public process of defining and leading the planning efforts and revitalization of this important urban area. That process brought together stakeholders from state and city governments, city planning staff, commercial land owners, business owners and adjacent residents.
The master plan initially focused on strengthening the Locust Street corridor between City Hall and the Capitol. As evidence of his own commitment and confidence is the success of this development, Kirk Blunck purchased the six-story Teachout Building at the corner of East 5th and Locust with the goal of reestablishing this as a cornerstone of a revitalized mixed use district.
From the pivotal Teachout Building project of 1998, the firm has led the design and redevelopment of over twenty historic building restorations, boutiques, art galleries, offices and entertainment venues. Since 2000, the East Village district has grown and prospered with over 185 million dollars of both historic rehabilitation and new construction.
Situated on the edge of a contemporary suburban development, the client purchased a site flanked by views of a golf course and the Missouri River. A design that would interact gracefully with the landscape to unlock the potential of its views was requested by the client; subsequently, the design is a departure from the overwhelmingly popular idea in the area that a large footprint can (or is necessary to) capably capture vastness of one’s imagination. This project instead seeks to harbor quaint views and the amenities of modern living as a medium for an auspicious family life.
A palette of simple organic materials including: wood, slate, natural steel and glass were assembled to blend the vernacular language of the rural mid-western landscape with the building. The gentle interaction between the natural landscapes and the building began with the yard being framed with planted prairie grass and use of landscaping features that bled the boundaries of where the “landscape” ends and where the “building” begins. The drive-way /entry side of the house is clad in materials that are firm and offer a clear sense of privacy and street side protection to the relations going on inside. Contrastingly, the backyard side of the residence, clad in glass, is treated as an extension of the interior commons areas – a stage for exploration and performance.
Upon entering, a board-form concrete wall creates a central gallery (with forced views of the exterior and suitable surfaces for displaying art) that leads into the heart of the home – a kitchen/ hub area that overlooks the commons spaces (dining, living, and outdoor.) From this commons area the division of space becomes clear – the lively from the serene and the intimate from the distant. The board-form wall doubles as spatial point of reference and an instrument for dividing the private/ sleeping spaces for the adults from the children. For instance, the master suite retreats from the bustling living space to grant the patrons privacy and tranquil views of the river. Similarly, a steel staircase transitions from the public realm above to the children’s private play-space; while a sheet of opaque glass, that serves as the pantry floor, begs the young mind’s eye from this space to the events going on above. The design cohesively accepts and playfully stages the daily demands of the clients – in play, in rest, and in living as an interconnected family unit.
Photography by Cameron Campbell, AIA, Integrated Studio
Salisbury House was built between 1924 and 1928 by Carl and Edith Weeks, and was modeled after the Kings House in Salisbury, England. The 42-room mansion was purchased by the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) in 1954 for use primarily as an office for their nearly fifty staff members. Over time, the condition of the house deteriorated significantly. The Salisbury House Foundation purchased the house from the ISEA in 1998. Their mission is to preserve and restore the original grandeur of this landmark property and operate it as a museum and cultural events venue.
KBArchitecture was commissioned by the Salisbury House Foundation to do a comprehensive study of the building’s integrity. The completed report prioritizes the work necessary to restore and rehabilitate the building. It establishes a clear methodology for a phased restoration while preserving the daily operations of the Salisbury House as a public museum. Several phases of restoration have already been completed. A meticulous restoration of the exterior envelope of the building concluded in 2002. In 2005 new mechanical, electrical, fire safety and security systems were delicately woven into the existing historic fabric of the house. Future work includes a careful restoration of the remaining interior spaces and finishes throughout the house. The goal of the completed restoration effort is to create a public museum with state of the art systems that will have national prominence.
Photography by Assassi Productions
This project, a former National AIA Award winning design for a high-end jeweler’s shop, has been relocated after ten years of use; all the original materials were carefully dismantled to be transported, reused, and reconfigured at its current location.
Rather than exposing its treasures all at once – the project follows the original design intent declared by both the owner and architect to provide a choreographed showroom in staged increments in an effort to heighten each patron’s personal sense of discovery and enchantment with the artful objects on display.
Photography by Cameron Campbell, AIA, Integrated Studio
The Innovative Teaching and Technology Center (ITTC) at the University of Northern Iowa is an adaptive re-use of the East Gym/East Pool complex. The East Gym was constructed in 1903 and the East Pool was constructed in 1934. The renovated facility integrates seven different academic departments ranging from academic advising to anthropology, providing state-of-the-art large and small classrooms, tutoring spaces, computer classrooms, laboratories, study areas, conference and seminar spaces, offices, faculty and student lounges, and support space.
Existing architectural features have been preserved where possible including the heavy-timber roof trusses, the ornate pressed tin ceiling of the second floor, maple flooring, pool chandeliers, and interior glazed brick masonry. Rather than repeat the historic style of the building, clear separations have been made between new insertions and existing building elements, including a new steel and glass elevator and stair tower inserted between the two existing structures to mediate between the various floor levels.
Photography by Assassi Productions
A 25 acre site in Port Orange, Florida has been master planned for three academic building sites, parking for the entire campus, a significant water feature, and a landscaped central campus green.
Phase One included the construction of the Academic Building and full development of the 25-acre site. Phase Two included construction of a secondary classroom and administrative building.
The 53,500 square foot Academic Building serves as the primary teaching classroom and faculty office facility for the campus. In addition to traditional classrooms and offices, the facility also accommodates administrative offices, temporary learning resource center, computer testing lab, technique labs, dissection lab, small group study rooms, and support space.
Building Two consists of 26,500 square feet of additional academic and support space. The facility includes a student lounge, bookstore, administrative offices, conference rooms, technique labs, and tiered lecture halls.
Incorporating energy efficient design principles, the buildings utilize fritted glass and steel sunscreens to maximize daylighting while protecting the interior from the intense heat of the Florida sun.
Photography by Peter Aaron/Esto Photographics Inc.
This project is a restoration of a historic commercial building in Des Moines’ East Village, a newly revived cultural and shopping district downtown where Kirk Blunck is actively taking part in shaping and encouraging the rebirth of the area. The project consists of two phases. Phase One: The reconstruction of the North and South historical facades, storefront, second level structure and roof. Phase Two: The interior construction of a restaurant on the lower and street levels. The building was originally built in 1885 during the East Village’s first commercial boom. After the decline of the area, the building became badly damaged, and eventually the second story was completely demolished.
The historic facades and storefront were restored and where necessary, recreated taking queues from neighboring buildings. The exterior was treated as a historical shell for the insertion of delicate objects and new program. New interior elements for the restaurant – a bar and food preparation station – are stretched the length of the space, careful to avoid contact with the exterior walls. This linearity is interrupted in only two areas, vertical circulation at the North entry and a central core. The core provides a focal point and contains the project’s programmatic vitals, the restaurant’s open kitchen. The interior materials were chosen to contrast and complement their historical context. The inserted objects highlight the texture and history of the walls that surround them.
Photography by Assassi Productions
The new McLeod Center built on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa. The 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena will be an athletic competition facility for the university and an important entertainment venue for the entire region.
Working with the assistance of a sports facility consultant, the new arena was designed to connect the McLeod Center to the nearby UNI-Dome to produce a unified complex of athletics, recreation, and entertainment. An athletics Hall of Fame physically connects the two buildings and serves as a main entrance and gathering space for the facility.
Great care was taken in designing the seating bowl to match the University’s desire for an intimate, yet active venue. An open concourse envelopes the “in the round” seating arrangement so one is never separated from the action on the floor. Unique to this facility is an alumni/donor suite incorporated into the seating bowl. This space offers up-close views of the action with the privileges of privacy.
The simplicity of the design has created a facility that is not only cost effective and functionaly efficient, but unique, iconic and beautiful.
Photography by Cameron Campbell, AIA, Integrated Studio
The Pappajohn Higher Education Center is a unique concept established by seven of Iowa’s outstanding educational institutions who identified the need for undergraduate and graduate courses, corporate training, and certification programs in downtown Des Moines. The vision is that of a learning center where working adults have access to college courses and professional training opportunities.
Ahighly transparent exterior skin with interior circulation and interaction areas along the perimeter serves to activate the building from the surrounding Gateway Park’s pedestrian-oriented environment, fostering a revitalized civic environment within The Des Moines Gateway West Park.
The Pappajohn Higher Education Center incorporates traditional and tiered classrooms to accommodate groups ranging from 16 to 80 students. The facility also features a radio studio and ICN classrooms. The building was designed with large floor plates to provide highly efficient and flexible classroom space, allowing the building to continually evolve to meet the needs of a complex and changing curriculum.
Photography by Assassi Productions
Hoyt Sherman Place, a treasure located on two plus acres in the historically significant Sherman Hill residential district of central Des Moines, was originally constructed as a Victorian House. In 1923, under the aegis of the Women’s Club, a 1,400 seat auditorium, art gallery and meeting facility was completed of which the firm Kraetsch & Kraetsch designed in association with the original architect, Norman Vorse. The hall contained 850 fixed seats on the main level, 350 in the balcony and space for 70 in a ring of loges. Designed in the Italianate style, the exterior and interior was uniquely detailed.
In 1995, a master plan was prepared for restoration of the auditorium and three levels of public lobbies. In addition, the entire facility was to be brought up to a state-of-the-art condition. Restoration began in Spring 2003.
The work included:
• First-time air conditioning • New electric • Updated entry, exit, and life-safety components • New sprinkler and security system • Compliance with ADA • Updated sound and lighting • Upgraded stage rigging • Restored historic paint colors • Refurbished original historic theatre seating • Refinished floor and new carpet • Improved dressing rooms • Improved costume, storage, and equipment rooms • New loading dock and drive to accommodate semi-trucks
The auditorium seating was reconfigured and now has fixed seating for 1,188 plus 38 box seats.
Photography by Assassi Productions
Roosevelt High School needed a space for baseball batting practice that could be used year-round during adverse weather in a “semi-conditioned” space. This practice space also is to be used by other athletic groups for various training purposes to ease the use existing school gym.
The solution is a rectangular plan sized to provide two batting spaces at either end of the “box”. The ends of the “box” are pulled apart to provide natural light. Plan and section portions are balanced between functional batting clearances and the relationship of the height of the new building to the height of the existing adjacent utility building. The location of the new building on the site and a proposed future canopy structure mark the entry to the existing baseball fields.
Materials were selected for low maintenance, durability, low cost, and with the ability to maximize natural daylight, and to present a soft glowing light at night. Details included using river sand for mortar joints and careful matching of the existing brick pattern and color to extend the strong “campus” feeling of the existing school buildings to the practice facility.
A new office building was added adjacent to the existing 11-story office tower design by the architect in 1990. A new 1,625 car parking facility was also added, designed in concert with the facility master plan. Three new skywalk bridges integrate the facility and four previously unconnected city blocks into the downtown skywalk system.
The new office building connects to the existing tower office with a new 8-story atrium that provides circulation flexibility, introduces daylight to core areas of the building, and creates a dramatic entrance for visitors entering the facility through the skywalk system. The atrium is part of a biaxial concourse at skywalk level that on one axis connects the facilities by new glass skywalks to the existing skywalk system and on the other axis connects the facility to the main street-level lobby and pedestrian mall(via a grand staircase) and the new corporate parking structure via glass skywalk. The dramatic proportions of the atrium (14’ wide and 91’ tall) with its completely glazed ends provide a truly unique experience for the skywalk patron while also visually connecting to the corporate work floors above.
A grand steel-framed glazed cylindrical “urban room” has been reserved at the top of the building. Paved and planted exterior roof terraces compliment this multi-use, public space. This room has sweeping views of both downtown Des Moines and south to the more wooded and residential areas of this Midwestern plains city.
The building also includes a 300-person dining area and downtown extension of the Des Moines Art Center flanking the main lobby at grade level to enliven the adjacent pedestrian mall.
Photography by Assassi Productions
Sticks, Inc. is an artists’ studio specializing in the design and production of contemporary art objects made from fallen timber and milled wood. The production pavilion is located in the clearing of a mature oak grove on the western edge of Des Moines, Iowa. Retained by the crest of the site, this pavilion harnesses the northern light while maintaining much of the site’s old growth.
The building is conceived as an assemblage of programmatic elements and building systems intended to serve as a stimulus for enhanced production efficiency, growth, and operational flexibility. It utilizes a pre-engineered steel frame and roof as the basic structural system. The building envelope, consisting of metal panels and tilt-up precast concrete, has been shifted off the steel frame. This shift creates a display space along the east edge of the interior and a loggia along the west façade. Varying fenestration systems are employed to provide natural light essential to the artists, including a faceted aluminum framed curtain wall and fifteen pairs of mahogany doors etched and painted by the artists with their own designs. The resulting assemblage encourages an effective studio environment in an otherwise prosaic building type.
Photography by Assassi Productions
This house was originally designed for a prominent Midwest heart surgeon in the mid 70’s and was an ambitious reflection of an array of both passive and active solar concepts in a strong, modernist vocabulary of building elements. With broad south-facing overhangs, earth covered roofs, tile floors, and an open floor plan, it responded to far-reaching concerns of energy conservation.
Over a 25 year period, nearly all the initial precepts of the house were challenged by the owners, resulting in extensive and pervasive modifications. The result was a house divided, devoid of any rational circulation system, and decorated with plush carpets, patterned wallpapers, mirrored walls, and traditional furniture.
This renovation project reconstructs, reconsiders, and reinterprets the original design. Nearly every surface has been completely stripped back to the original structural concrete walls, concrete floors, and precast roof decks, while spaces were reordered along a 90-foot long spine of circulation on both upper and lower levels. Every interior living space was opened once again to expansive southern exposures. Carpet and ceramic tile floors were replaced with limestone or honed black granite. Service rooms were aligned adjacent to the windowless north elevations.
A palette of black stained ash, limestone, black granite, stainless steel, veneer plaster, and sanded glass was used to define rooms and delineate building parts. The primary interest was to create restrained and ordered living spaces that provided a backdrop for a developing collection of furniture and art.
Photography by Assassi Productions
Praxair moved their operations into an existing 58,000 sq .ft. warehouse, within an industrial park. The building in Ankeny, Iowa was modified to house a midwest distribution and processing center. One-third of the facility would house office, conference and training operations, two-thirds of the facility would accommodate warehousing and distribution of welding supplies. To unify the two operations, the structure and shell of the building was left exposed throughout facility.
The layout of the office structure, furniture, warehouse racking and mechanical system were organized from the building structure to reinforce their relationship. Industrial and low cost materials (i.e., racking structure, tread plate steel, peg board steel panels, corrugated fiberglass, steel studs, gypsum board, etc.) were used and exposed throughout to reinforce Praxair’s warehouse disposition.
The project received a National Honor Award for Interiors by the The American Institute of Architects and received a Business Week/Architectural Record Award for a design that supported Praxair’s business goals.
Photography by Assassi Productions
