Portfolio

Featured Presentation

The Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition (MR|DC)
minneapolisriverfrontdesigncompetition.com

Groundwork is producing the Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and The Minneapolis Parks Foundation, along with creative partners the University of Minnesota College of Design and Walker Art Center, are sponsors. The competition addresses Minneapolis' Upper Riverfront, the area extending 5.5 miles from the Stone Arch Bridge to Minneapolis' northern city limits, along both sides of the Mississippi River. This project builds on the MPRB award-winning 2000 master plan and is the first demonstration project of The Minneapolis Parks Foundation's "Next Generation of Parks" – a design-driven vision for a 21st century park system which Groundwork also helped develop.

Finalists:

Recent Addition

Creating a Strategic Area Approach [pdf]

Groundwork, working with VJAA, created this comprehensive integrated approach to city building. The goal of the area approach was to stimulate discussion around new or alternate development ideas and methods, and illustrate the interrelationship of physical features and systems when working at a neighborhood scale. All the information presented builds on existing plans and proposals created by the City, County and private developers. The design analysis reflects a desire to move from the abstract world of policy and ideas to more concrete design concepts, using the vocabulary of design to analyze and illustrate proposed ideas so decision makers can make informed decisions.

Creating a New Urban Center The Convergence of Transit, Energy and Entertainment

DAG 360

Laying the Foundation

DAG 360 [pdf]

Hennepin County Board of Commissioners created the Design Advisory Group (DAG 360). The group was charged with engaging the broader community, soliciting public input and making recommendations for the integrated development of the ballpark its environs, and developing guidelines to realize that vision. This report, created by Groundwork in collaboration with Mark Oyaas and Charles Leer, lays the foundation for city building by establishing guidelines for the development of a ballpark neighborhood in the North Loop, defining the building blocks necessary to support the guidelines, and outlining the next steps for further developing and realizing what could be.

Winter Garden

Defining What Could Be

Winter Garden [pdf]

Groundwork, along with IOTA, Public Artist Andrew Leicester, Mark Oyaas and Charles Leer, created this design proposal to illustrate what a year round public indoor/outdoor venue could be, located adjacent to the new Target Field and the revitalized North Loop Neighborhood.

2010 Partners

Creating an organization

2010 Partners [pdf]

As one of three founding members, and now consultant, Groundwork worked with a variety of stakeholders to create this public/private partnership. 2010 Partners helps coordinate and facilitate the multiple planning, design and development initiatives at the convergence of Minneapolis' Target Field, the proposed Transportation Interchange and the HERC waste-to-energy facility.

creating a new urban center

A call to plan

Creating a New Urban Center [pdf]

2010 Partners is poised to move into the next phase of its mission as it begins to 'put the pieces together' into a comprehensive vision for a new urban center .This transformation requires foresight and creative thinking about how to support and guide development of a uniquely situated urban neighborhood already in the throes of transformation.

opening day and beyond

Implementing a work plan

Opening Day and Beyond [pdf]

After coordinating a workshop led by acclaimed urban thinker William Morrish, Groundwork created a summary document and has been working closely with 2010 Partners to implement short- and long-term work plans for the area around the ballpark, proposed transportation interchange and waste-to-energy facility.

transportation interchange

Advocating for an idea

Minneapolis Transportation Interchange [pdf]

Groundwork worked with Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin and his staff to create print and visual presentations to support his leadership and advocacy for the development of a new Transportation Interchange in Minneapolis.

Developing a Concept

Developing a concept - Creating a Sustainable Landscape

This series of diagrams position the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC), as a community asset and illustrates the role it could play in transforming the identity of the industrial district. It was designed to educate the community about HERC's value and the possibility of leveraging it to create a sustainable landscape and 'energy district'.

Introducing HERC

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The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) provides a valuable community service by disposing of 356,000 tons of garbage a year for Minnesota's largest county— Hennepin. The garbage is converted into enough electricity to power 25,000 households, or 1/5 of all the residences in Minneapolis. Not only is HERC a 24/7/365 waste-to-energy powerhouse, it is also a green building.

Changing the Public's Perception

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Urban waste-to-energy facilities like HERC are extremely valuable to communities at a variety of scales: in the neighborhood, where the building functions as a local landmark and has the potential to provide district heating and cooling, and city-wide electricty; in the county, where the facility disposes of 1/3 of all garbage; and statewide, where it reduces the dependence on imported energy and landfills.

Identifying Energy Assets

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The industrial area surrounding HERC has vast social, economic and environmental energy assets that lay the foundation for the creation of an energy district. These assets include multiple energy institutions—with HERC as the work-horse—public transportation, green buildings and businesses, a latent work-force and educational institutions that can train local residents in green skills, and building types that can both support green incubator businesses and green technologies.

Creating and Energy District

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In an effort to make the next step from idea to implementation, this diagram begins to break out the physical opportunities for transforming the industrial landscape into a more sustainable one, including the employment, financial and communication steps needed to help realize the district.

VJAA

Promoting great design

2nd Avenue [pdf]

As part of the above-mentioned work plan, internationally acclaimed architecture firm, VJAA (14), created a proposal that unifies a very complex urban area. The plan ties together disparate pieces on three levels, creating a dynamic environment from the ground, on street level and in the air!

Expanding the Possibilities

Next Generation of Parks

Developing a project

The Next Generation of Parks [pdf]

Groundwork is consulting to the Minneapolis Parks Foundation 16) and creative partners, the Walker Art Center and the University of Minnesota College of Design, to develop and coordinate a design competition that re-evaluates the Minneapolis Park System within the context of infrastructure, sustainability and public space.