news

December 4th, 2011

Ground Broken on Lilydale

In November, Kaas Wilson Architects participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Southview Senior Living project in Lilydale.

August 24th, 2011

Ground Broken on Wooddale Pointe

Groundbreaking at Wooddale Pointe Monday, August 22, 2011 saw the groundbreaking ceremony for Wooddale Pointe. Work is underway to excavate and prepare the ground for footings and foundations on this incredible urban CCRC project in Saint Louis Park!

Excavation of site

May 6th, 2011

Faribault Senior Living Grand Opening Open House

May 6th, 2011

MSU Centennial Ballroom Featured on Mankato Channel 12 TV News

Ballroom Rendering 2

Mankato channel 12 TV Station KETC featured the Centennial Ballroom on the local newscast on April 9th.

You can read an excerpt here

April 22nd, 2011

Seasons of Apple Valley Awarded Best In Real Estate 2011

Seasons of Apple Valley was awarded the Best in Real Estate Award from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal for 2011. The Business Journal and its panel of distinguished real estate experts awarded the prize to Seasons of Apple Valley in the category of Senior Housing Development.

You can read the article here

Seasons of Apple Valley is a $27 million, 220,500 square foot senior community with 134 apartments on four levels. The project was built for Ecumen. Ecumen and Kaas Wilson also collaborated on last year’s winner Seasons of Maplewood. Kaas Wilson also recieved honorable mention for their Nine Mile Creek project last year.

March 25th, 2011

Minnesota State University – Mankato – Centennial Ballroom Begins Construction

Ballroom Rendering 1

Construction is underway on a $4.5 million renovation that moves the Centennial Student Union Ballroom at Minnesota State University, Mankato into the 21st century of lighting and technology.

The only remaining area of the CSU unaltered from its original 1967 design, the ballroom will undergo a bright facelift. Existing dark wood wall accents and a “moon crater” ceiling reminiscent of the ‘60s space race will be replaced by energy efficient Color Kinetic lighting and walls that double as projection screens.

Laurie Woodward, director of the CSU, said no state-appropriated money is being used for the $4.5 million project awarded to Ebert Construction of Corcoran, Minn. The CSU, which operates under a budget financed through student fees and other generated revenue, is partially funding the renovation through a $2.5 revenue bond. The remainder is funded through CSU savings.

Woodward said Student Union Board — the CSU governing board comprised of University students — as well as the Minnesota State Student Association which oversees the student fees budget have participated and approved both the design and funding of the renovation.

“We are able to do this without raising student fees,” Woodward said. “Student fees will not be increased to pay off the bond because we are eliminating a substantial amount of deferred maintenance issues.”

Woodward said the renovation upgrades include new high efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and a new roof for that section of the building.

“This is much more than cosmetic improvements,” Woodward said. “We are making this building viable for another 40 years. It’s part of our fiduciary and custodial responsibilities to our students.”

Woodward added that the “fun part” is the ballroom’s new technology.

“It’s tech design with an eye to the future,” she said.

The design team led by Kaas Wilson Architects of Minneapolis includes lighting consultants Shuler Shook of Minneapolis and technology consultants Elert and Associates of Stillwater, Minn.

Major lighting improvements include a combination of high-efficiency, high-intensity metal halide lighting for overall brilliance and dimmable halogen lamps for proper ambience. Ballroom walls will be accented by LED lighting capable of interacting and changing with audio and projected video.

“At a fraction of the energy cost, this new system will provide bright ballroom lighting as well as interplay of colored mood lighting for accenting everything from banquets to concerts,” Woodward said.

Dark wood slats currently lining the outside walls of the ballroom will be collected and reused to create a centerpiece ceiling fixture.

“This was a large amount of gorgeous wood that we didn’t want see go to waste,” Woodward said. “Our recycling effort was energized when we learned the wood actually came from a northern Minnesota pine forest that no longer exists. Our design team came up with a beautiful way to help us be ‘green’ and to preserve an important piece of ballroom and Minnesota history.”

The wood walls will be converted into white fabric walls that double as projection screens. Plans include 17 mounted digital projectors with technology for creating continuous, “stitched” video projected on the outer walls. The technology provides the capability of surrounding visitors with 360-degree scenes.

“Imagine a wedding reception with pictures of the couple projected around seated guests; or watching the Super Bowl with multiple screens that include ESPN coverage, play-by-play website postings and video games of John Madden football. Maybe it will be 360-degree scene of wild flowers or virtual jets circling the room,” Woodward said. “The possibilities are exciting and endless.”

The Ballrooms parquet wood floor will not be replaced but rather refinished with the outer eight feet of the floor stained to a dark walnut shade. New retractable walls with enhanced sound barrier design will be installed with the ballroom still capable of being divided into three main sections. Two new dividing walls will also allow each of the side sections to be split.

Remodeling will extend to the ballroom lobby where the exterior wall of the ballroom will be covered by Minnesota kasota stone. The back wall of the lobby will feature three interactive information stations dedicated to telling the University’s “Big ideas. Real world thinking” story.

A new multifunction space will be added to the lobby to serve as a ticket booth, concessions area, and staging area for catering.

To accommodate a portion of the renovation, the CSU Administrative Offices, Scheduling, Dining Services and the Women’s Center will be relocated during the summer to the CSU Conference Rooms 201-204. Traffic in the construction area will be limited with access to the second floor construction area available only by the grand staircase at the south entrance of the CSU.

Work on Ballroom is targeted for completion in time for Homecoming 2011.

March 22nd, 2011

Seasons of Apple Valley Holds Open House

Doors have opened at Seasons of Apple Valley! Hundreds of interested families came in to tour the wonderful facility and sample refreshments at the Ecumen facility on Saturday. Seasons of Apple Valley is a 220,500 square foot community will have 134 apartments on four levels, including 106 one- and two-bedroom independent living and assisted living apartments, where residents can add a la carte supportive services as they want them.

March 22nd, 2011

Silvercrest Parkshore Open House

Rendering of New Pool Addition

Silvercrest held an open house on Sunday, March 20th to raise money for Honor Flight Minnesota where the Kaas Wilson designed pool addition was featured.  Hundreds turned out and examined the color drawings and color selections chosen by BDH & Young a perennial partner of Kaas Wilson in creating beautiful senior spaces.

February 2nd, 2011

Inver Glen Senior Living Awarded LEED Certification

Inver Glen Senior Living - LEED Certified

Inver Glen Senior Living has been officially awarded LEED certification by USGBC.

Inver Glen Senior Living is located in Inver Grove Heights and contains 103 units of senior apartments, assisted living, and memory care, and is also home to All Seasons Preschool.

You can view more photos and information on the project page.

January 6th, 2011

Kaas Wilson Featured in Green Building & Design Magazine

The January edition of GB&D (Green Building & Design) Magazine features an article about Kaas Wilson Architects. The piece gives a brief history of our firm and highlights Inver Glen Senior Living for its Green Design principles including water conservation, efficient ventilation, and environmentally-friendly material choices that helped it become the first LEED Certified senior living facility in the state. Also mentioned is the Wooddale Pointe development in St. Louis Park. You can view the digital edition of GB&D Magazine on their website. http://gbdmagazine.com/digital-edition/

November 24th, 2010

Aging Goes Mainstream

A recent NPR article highlights journalist, writer, and director Nora Ephron’s new book I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections. Famous for her movies including When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and Julie & Julia, Ephron writes in her latest book about her experience with aging. As our nation grows older we will become increasingly aware of the issues that accompany aging, both in the mainstream media and popular culture and in our personal lives. At Kaas Wilson Architects we recognize these needs of the aging population and are committed to designing high quality environments that help to facilitate successful aging.

You can read the article (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131161208) about her and an excerpt of her new book on NPR’s Website.

September 13th, 2010

Seasons at Maplewood featured on Minnesota Public Radio

The Seasons at Maplewood was recently featured on Minnesota Public Radio in an article on housing options for seniors. You can read the article on the MPR website or listen to the audio program.

August 31st, 2010

Seasons at Apple Valley Construction Progress

Construction at Seasons at Apple Valley continues to progress.

July 22nd, 2010

Collin Kaas Honored

Collin Kaas is among the 2010 young entrepreneurs being honored by the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal tonight at an awards reception!

June 10th, 2010

Construction Progresses

Construction progresses on Seasons at Maplewood.

June 4th, 2010

Mindy Michael Earns License

Mindy Michael has passed the American Institute of Architects exams and is now a licensed architect. Congratulations, Mindy!

May 27th, 2010

Ground Breaking for Faribault Senior Living

The sun shone on Link Wilson and Ryan DuPuis as they attended the ground breaking for Faribault Senior Living on Wednesday, May 26, 2010. Construction is scheduled to begin June 1, and is scheduled to be complete April 1, 2011.

April 16th, 2010

Seasons at Maplewood Wins Best in Real Estate

The Seasons at Maplewood won Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal‘s Best in Real Estate award for Senior Housing Development or Redevelopment. The project allows aging Maplewood residents the ability to move from single-family housing to a needs-driven community while still remaining in town.

The finalist for the award was also a Kaas Wilson project: Nine Mile Creek Senior Living.

Read more at the Minneapolis /St. Paul Business Journal.

April 3rd, 2010

Kaas Wilson Architects Awarded University Ballroom Renovation

Minnesota State University, Mankato has awarded Kaas Wilson Architects their Centennial Student Union Ballroom renovation project! KWA competed against some of Minnesota’s most experienced and successful firms to win this project, and we are thrilled to serve the State, MnSCU and Mankato yet again.

February 5th, 2010

Construction Begins on The Seasons at Apple Valley

Kaas Wilson Architects, Frana Companies, Ecumen, and Nichols Financial are pleased to announce the start of construction for The Seasons at Apple Valley. The development boasts 134 units of memory care suites, and assisted and catered living for seniors. Occupancy is expected for May 2011. An article announcing the groundbreaking ran in the February 5, 2010 edition of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.