Minneapolis Public Service Building

This project was selected as a winner in AIA's 2023 Architecture Awards.

Created by Copenhagen-based Henning Larsen in partnership with local firm MSR Design, the new Minneapolis Public Service Building sees the two outfits collaborating on a project in the great tradition of American civic architecture. The context demanded nothing less: Directly across the street from the site stands Minneapolis’ City Hall, a stunning example of Richardsonian Romanesque style. The new building would have to answer all the needs of 21st-century urban government, while providing a suitable riposte to the monumental, rust-colored structure opposite it.

The team met both challenges head on with a cleverly double-coded, formal solution. Inside a sheath of irregularly patterned glass and aluminum, the building shelters a two-story stone core of buff, textured stone, an obvious nod to its rocky neighbor. Feeling like almost an extension of the adjacent public plaza, the entry floor’s dignified openness is echoed in the upper stories by staircases visible through the broad, brilliantly lit breaks in the façade system. An interesting counterpoint to City Hall’s opaque heft, the design’s weightless transparency allows passersby a peek into the inner workings of the building—and reminds its occupants of the people they’re committed to serve.

PROJECT CREDITS
Project: Minneapolis Public Service Building
Design Architect: Henning Larsen Design
Architect of Record: MSR Design
Structural Engineer – Structural: Buro Happold
Mechanical and Electrical Engineer: Buro Happold
Plumbing and Fire Protection Engineer: Obernel Engineering
Civil Engineer: EVS
AV/IT Consultant: Technology Management Corporation
Security Consultant: Buro Happold
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
Law Enforcement and Forensic Lab Designer: McClaren, Wilson & Lawrie
Life Safety and Code Consultant: Jensen Hughes
Vertical Transportation Consultant: Lerch Bates
Traffic and Pedestrian Consultant: Greenway Transportation Planning; Traffic Impact Group
Acoustical Consultant: Kvernstoen, Ronnholm & Associates
Cost Estimator: Faithful & Gould
Change Management Consultant: Koliso
Energy Design Assistance: Willdan
Enhanced Commissioning: Questions & Solutions Engineering
Façade Consultant: AWS/Baker Metals
Building Enclosures and Commissioning: Pie Consulting & Engineering
Construction Manager Agent: Mortenson Company
Owners Representative: CPMI
Size: 370,233 square feet

This article first appeared in the May/June 2023 issue of ARCHITECT.