When the lease on their office space expired, Minneapolis-based engineering firm Loucks sought out a team that could help create their ideal work environment in a new location. With help from BWBR, furniture dealership Henricksen, real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, and some extraordinary luck, Loucks transformed an already promising space into a…

The latest Side of Design podcast pulls back the curtain on PFAS, the infamous "forever chemicals" making headlines for their carcinogenic and environmentally damaging properties, and their widespread presence in many common finishes and materials—from stain-resistant couches to flame-retardant clothing to nonstick pans. Host Matt Gerstner welcomes…

The most recent Side of Design podcast introduces us to two architecture students whose work demands we reconsider what makes good design. Sierra Espinoza and Pwapadeino Wonosikou, this year's BWBR equity scholarship winners, aren't waiting until graduation to tackle the industry's most pressing questions about who benefits from the spaces we build…

The path to professional fulfillment isn't always a straight line, and the stories of some of our BWBR team members prove just that. In the latest episode of Side of Design, host Matt Gerstner and three BWBR colleagues share their fascinating journeys of career transformation, revealing how seemingly unrelated experiences can shape unique perspecti…

Athletic facilities aren't just about sports anymore. As BWBR's Architectural Design Manager Kyle Lunke and Principal Craig Peterson discuss in our latest Side of Design episode, these spaces drive enrollment, enhance student wellness, and strengthen institutional identity. Venues that welcome fans on game day help foster an incredible sense of com…

The research, development, and production that takes place inside science + technology facilities is highly complex and technical. It’s no surprise that the design work that brings these environments to life demands the same level of precision. Design, engineering, and contractor teams partner closely to coordinate the advanced MEP systems and intr…

Employee engagement goes beyond happiness and job satisfaction—those are byproducts of something deeper. As BWBR's Director of People and Culture Tricia Eiswald and Knowledge Manager Kari Shonblom discuss in the latest Side of Design episode, engagement means genuine involvement and enthusiasm at work and in the workplace. Their insights delve into…

Despite being a sensitive topic, money is central to any project—managing costs, remaining on budget, and achieving maximum value per dollar spent are all critical to a successful design, whether a new build, a major expansion, or a renovation. So, let’s talk about it. The latest episode of Side of Design from BWBR dives deep into this subject, exp…

Like any other healthcare facility, behavioral health environments must be comforting places to heal. But these spaces pose unique considerations to keep patients safe, requiring thoughtful balance from skilled design professionals to create environments that are beautiful and manage patient risk. Senior Interior Designer Lauren Frank, Senior Proje…

Simulation spaces are high-tech, realistic environments designed to train both students preparing for careers in healthcare and medical professionals learning new skills. These environments require both the functionality of real healthcare spaces and classroom elements for teaching and learning, allowing users to practice skills, learn new procedur…

Neuroscience facilities serve patients with a wide range of conditions, from cognitive issues like Alzheimer's to mobility challenges resulting from spinal cord injuries. Patients facing cognitive disorders may feel as though they’re experiencing a space for the very first time, even though they've been there dozens of times, while patients with mo…

A lot goes into creating healthcare environments that work for both the patients they serve and the staff who provide critical care – from having the right number of beds to planning strategic layouts that allow providers to do their best work efficiently to finding feasible solutions amid rising costs. That’s where designers come in, working close…

Student housing is commonly associated with bare-bones accommodations designed to be tolerated rather than enjoyed. However, today’s residence halls are advancing in remarkable ways to better foster community, support student well-being, and reflect each institution’s unique culture. Students increasingly seek inclusive design, communities to enhan…

The worlds of design and construction are closely related, yet they speak entirely different languages. A lot hinges on maintaining a clear, consistent vision and understanding of every detail, with absolutely nothing getting lost in translation between design and construction. Luckily, Construction Administrators (CA) speak both “languages” fluent…

If our latest podcast discussion is any indication, the future of design is in excellent hands. We were honored to sit down with the recipients of this year’s BWBR equity scholarships for an inspiring discussion about inclusion and diversity in design, the recipients’ incredible submission projects, and what’s next for them. Hosted by: Matt Gerstne…

Quality assurance is all about dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, confirming that design details meet code regulations, stakeholder requirements, and quality standards. Hosted by: Matt Gerstner - BWBR Podcast Host and Producer Guests: Dan Hottinger - BWBR, Principal Todd Warren - BWBR, Quality Assurance Specialist Music provided by Artlist.io Si…

The folks in lab design at BWBR have no trouble seeing common ground between their work as designers and their scientist clients’ work. In both cases, it’s about coming up with innovative, out-of-the-box, and creative solutions to intricate problems. Hosted by: Matt Gerstner - BWBR Podcast Host and Producer Guests: Terri Ulrick - BWBR, Principal an…

When it comes to Critical Access Hospital projects, two themes reign supreme: affordability and strategic thinking. Working on these projects means getting creative in figuring out how to fine-tune design for a community's unique needs, maintaining the highest standards of planning and execution while balancing tight budgets. Hosted by: Matt Gerstn…

By BWBR

By BWBR

Critical Access Hospitals, tasked with providing vital hospital services to their rural populations, face unique challenges while serving their sprawling communities within the confines of budget, space, and oftentimes aging facilities. Strategic healthcare design can be a secret weapon in enhancing patient outcomes and staff wellbeing within these…

You’ve heard the phrase “too many cooks in the kitchen spoils the broth.” Do too many stakeholders in the planning room spoil the design? That depends on how you approach the challenge. Hosted by: Matt Gerstner - BWBR Podcast Host and Producer Guests: Stephanie McDaniel - BWBR President, CEO Nathan Roisen - BWBR Senior Project Planner Music provide…

The United States is in the midst of a mental health crisis. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five adults in the United States experiences mental illness each year. And yet, only about half of those who need treatment actually receive it. For this episode of Side of Design, host and BWBR principal Melanie Baumhover sat d…

Designers bridge very different worlds — creative, technical, and consultative — and there can be an air of mystery about the process and the various roles within it. For the latest episode of Side of Design, we invited some of the BWBR team to clear things up, including Sam Griesgraber, Senior Interior Designer; Craig Peterson, Principal, as well …

If you live in an urban area, you may take for granted that you can call emergency services and have someone on the scene within minutes or hop in the car to reach a hospital before a bad situation gets worse. That’s not the case for the tens of millions of Americans who live more than an hour away from the nearest trauma care center. Fortunately, …

Interior design has a massive impact on the way we interact with the spaces around us. It involves macro-level factors (like layout) all the way down to the details (like the finish on drawer pulls). That’s a lot to take on, and it takes talented, dedicated professionals to make it work. Hosted by: Matthew Gerstner - BWBR AV Production Guests: Lisa…

When you think about healthcare, you might think about doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who work tirelessly to save and improve lives. You also might think about all the equipment involved — MRI and Xray machines, CAT scanners, high-tech hospital beds, heart monitors, etc. But what about how it all fits together and flows in space? …

Today, we're so excited to recognize the achievements and talent of the recipients of BWBR's second annual equity scholarships. We had the chance to sit down with our recipients for a conversation about their backgrounds, their winning projects, and their vision for the future of architecture and design. It was a fascinating conversation that gives…

Interior design and architecture are often described as perfectly blending art, science, and technology. Part of the beauty of that blend is being able to craft spaces that look aesthetically pleasing and yet also have a lot going on behind the scenes, with every element meticulously planned to optimize efficiency and effectiveness. Perhaps nowhere…

When you say the word “design” to 100 people, they’ll likely picture 100 different things. Design is deeply subjective and personal. Still, we can get a sense of what design looks like by asking the people who live it every day. For our most recent episode, we sat down with 13 BWBR team members to ask them: How did you know you wanted to be in the …

High-quality design demands a unique blend of art and science — plus a constant, renewable source of inspiration. Without inspiration, the outcomes are rote, derivative, and dull. Put another way, how can you expect to create spaces that inspire without being inspired yourself? For our latest podcast we sat down with a diverse group of employees fr…

Hybrid and remote work are now the norm across a wide range of industries, and while the shift was a long time coming, it was clearly accelerated by the pandemic. But what happens when you work in an industry where place is everything? At BWBR, we literally design spaces for people to connect and collaborate. How do we reconcile that with our own w…

There’s an assumption that summer internship programs are primarily for the benefit of the students who participate, but what about amazing contributions they make to the organizations they’re working for? We recently sat down for a discussion with four of BWBR’s 2022 summer interns to learn more about their experiences and show some appreciation f…

Project management is not a small job. A project manager should provide overall team leadership and coordination. Project managers are accountable for the success of their projects, and to that end, they plan the work, organize the team, get ahead of issues, and serve as the primary contact for clients. To more fully explore the impact of project m…

The close of Women’s History Month – as with any designated time period to honor a specific community – is bittersweet. On one hand, we’ve just been immersed in myriad, under-told stories highlighting people and causes that more than deserve time in the spotlight. On the other hand, the close of the designated time means, typically, that things go …

While ESG has been a hot topic in Europe for quite some time, more and more business leaders are starting to tune in here in the United States. ESG, which stands for “Environmental, Social, Governance,” represents a lens that investors are using to examine business health and risk management as they make decisions about where to invest. Joining us …

Twenty episodes. One year. That’s a lot of content. We’ve been incredibly privileged to have so many guests willing to be generous with their time and insights, and we packed everything we could into the first season of Side of Design. Hosted by: Jarett Anderson Co-host: Matt Gerstner Music provided by artlist.io Siberian Summer by Sunny Fruit DuDa…

Host: Coral Digatono Guest: Peter Smith, Stephanie McDaniel Transcript provided by Otter.ai Music provided by Artlist.io Funk It Up : Steve Poloni Circle : Luke Melville If you like what we are doing with our podcasts please subscribe and leave us a review! You can also connect with us on any of our social media sites! https://www.facebook.com/BWBR…

Design plays a critical role in making people feel welcome and safe. From accessibility to gender inclusivity, design is about more than who can enter a space – it also sends a strong message about who is warmly invited to enter a space, just as they are. In this episode of Side of Design, BWBR Interior Designer Sophia Good speaks with special gues…

In this episode of Side of Design, we discuss the EmPATH (emergency psychiatric assessment, treatment, and healing) model of emergency health services with Ryan Johansen, AIA, and Dr. Lewis Zeidner, PhD. Together, the speakers define what it means to experience a mental health crisis, review the clinical and operational outcomes of EmPATH services,…

In this episode, Michael Meehan, AIA, LEED AP, discusses the future of equitable and diverse design with the winners of BWBR's first-annual equity scholarships: Allison Loth and Freeland Livingston. Each award is designed to support equity in the built environment by providing a $1,000 prize to a student of architecture, interior design, or graphic…

Design can be a powerful tool to create change and impact organizations and communities. However, it is important that we are striving to understand through research exactly how the design of the built environment impacts our everyday lives. BWBR recognizes the value of research in practice and seeks research collaboration opportunities through aca…

Architects are often asked to do more than just design buildings, with clients turning to them for support outside of traditional project scopes and timelines. To meet this need, BWBR created BWBR+, a collection of services focused on human performance and building performance that bridges the gap between architecture and traditional business consu…

Coral Digatono discusses Advisory Services with BWBR's Brandon King, AIA, MBA. Together they take a high level look at a few Advisory Service offerings and why they are important to building owners. Music provided by artlist.io Funk It Up : Steve Poloni Circle : Luke Melville If you like what we are doing with our podcasts please subscribe and leav…

In part two of this two part series, Jennifer Stukenberg joins Coral Digatono to discuss how to successfully plan and execute the return to work with a Hybrid work model. Discussing the pitfalls to avoid and how to prepare for an equitable environment. If you like what we are doing with our podcasts please subscribe and leave us a review! You can a…

In part one of this two part series, Jennifer Stukenberg, NCIDQ, LEED AP, WELL AP, joins Coral Digatono to discuss how to successfully plan and execute the return to work with a hybrid work model. This episode also considers pitfalls to avoid and how to prepare for an equitable environment. If you like what we are doing with our podcasts please sub…

Egress challenges and fire safety codes are common issues that can have a big impact on architectural project design and success, whether new construction or renovation. The existing components of a building used for one purpose might simply not be up to code for another. Telgian Engineering & Consulting's April Musser, PE, CFPS, and BWBR's Roger "…

Since 2013, Hanna Kuehl, Steve Berg, and the BWBR team have addressed a specific design challenge: to reimagine the special education environment and what it means for students, families, and staff. Based on research, case studies, and evidence-based reports, BWBR uncovered the elements of an ideal special education environment, which provided an o…

This Memorial Day Holiday we take time to honor our military service members who've made the greatest sacrifice in service to our country and we celebrate by inviting our staff to share with you, some thoughts and traditions. Hosted by Coral Digatono If you like what we are doing with our podcasts please subscribe and leave us a review! You can als…

Today we're taking you down to the heart of Minneapolis, not into downtown, but south of it, where there's a cross section that is a definition of America. On Minneapolis's Lake Street, you'll find a vibrant and eclectic mix of locally owned businesses, from clothing stores to restaurants to grocery stores. They are owned by people dreaming of some…