Photos by Spacecrafting
the front of a modern house
Work representing nearly every possible style has helped Twin Cities architects take the local design scene to exciting new levels time and time again. And while our architects’ work is wide-ranging, it’s also far-reaching, stretching beyond our state both near (the North Dakota prairie) and far (the Oregon coast). No matter the design or distance from home, their projects prove that sustainability, character, and comfort can remain central. Mpls.St.Paul Home & Design celebrates these architects’ rich contributions with the 19th annual Residential Architects Vision & Excellence (RAVE) Awards.
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Photos by Spacecrafting
Modern kitchen
Architectural team insights: “Design challenges included working within the existing midcentury footprint, integrating modern materials into the existing palette of midcentury materials, and adding high-performance windows, sliding glass doors, and an energy-efficient HVAC system.”
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Backyard at twilight
Judge’s comments: “This team met the challenge of improving on an Elizabeth Close design. The lake-facing window wall is stunning. (I rarely gasp when scrolling through projects, but they got me here.) These spaces strongly support the wow factor, complementing without competing.”
Modern Marvel
2022 Winner: PKA Architecture
Remodel/Addition, 800–3,500 Square Feet | Minneapolis
Opening interiors for comfortable flow and function while preserving original character stands as a fairly standard renovation goal. But for this midcentury home on Cedar Lake designed by one of Minnesota’s first female architects, the highly esteemed Elizabeth Close, updates required an especially high level of sensitivity. The newly integrated kitchen, dining area, and living room—in a quiet palette of rift oak and stone—open to a patio and expansive views via a wall of windows that appears to be original to the home but is new. “The sequence of the kitchen and great room, with its high wall of patterned glazing, to the patio and yard beyond is just about perfect,” one judge said. “I imagine that if the original architect were to see it, she would be pleased.”
The PKA Architecture team: Gabriel Keller, Associate AIA; Craig Martin, AIA // Interior designer: Jay Nuhring // Builder: Marsden Building and Remodeling
Downtown mid-Century revival
Second-Place Winner: Mid-Century Revival // Albertsson Hansen Architecture
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Photos by Scott Amundson
Kitchen with hanging pots and pans
Architectural team insights: “Heat lamps extend down to stainless steel countertops on either side [of the stove] for the business of serious cooking. The unadorned stainless refrigerator falls in line with this professional character. At the center island…a foot pedal provides hands-free control of the faucet.”
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Kitchen entrance
Quality Ingredients
2022 Winner: Rehkamp Larson architects
Kitchen | Minneapolis
Sequestered in a back corner of the house—having undergone an awkward remodel that chopped up workspaces and made little attempt to connect with adjacent rooms—is no recipe for a kitchen, much less a cook’s kitchen. By relocating an existing powder room in the 1929 home, the architectural team was able to center the kitchen on a new arched opening to the original center hall. A large center pot rack keeps cookware close, and the special-order French Molteni stove in cobalt blue meets the resident cook’s exact specifications. Said one judge, “The equipment and finishes—along with an expansive steel-framed window above the stove—are both fresh and completely in keeping with the period and flavor of the original house.”
The Rehkamp Larson Team: Jean Rehkamp Larson, AIA; Anders Matney, AIA // Interior designer: Alecia Stevens Interiors // Builder: Welch Forsman Associates
Wellesley
Second-Place Winner: Wellesley // Kell Architects
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Photos by Jim Kruger
pool in backyard
Architectural team insights: “The homeowners requested durable, long-lasting materials that could withstand an active family and the test of time. Locally sourced concrete panels clad the exterior and interior of the home. Other long-lasting materials include aluminum interior and exterior windows, ironwood siding and decking, and exposed structural steel beams and columns.”
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Modern kitchen
In a New Light
2022 Winner: Imprint Architecture and Design
Remodel/Addition, More Than 3,500 Square Feet | Marine on St. Croix
Although the placement of this home on its site largely functioned well, a two-car garage and small entryway prevented natural light from filtering into the kitchen and living room, leaving the homeowners in darkness for much of the day. While maintaining a bedroom wing on the north end of the house as well as the footprint of the main living spaces, the architectural team relocated the garage. The newly revamped great room draws the outside in with higher ceilings and larger windows. “The interior spaces have a strong sense of continuity with the exterior forms and surfaces and feel appealingly spacious rather than cavernous,” one judge said. Said another, “The activity on each floor is visibly connected from the backyard and mimics the quality of a tree house.”
The Imprint Architecture and Design Team: Sara Imhoff, AIA; Jeremy Imhoff, AIA // Builder: Hagstrom Builder
Bayview
Second-Place Winner: Bay View // Rehkamp Larson Architects
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Photos by Scott Amundson
Dining room
Architectural team insights: “The richness of the wrought-iron-color cabinetry recollects old England, along with the repetition of the handcrafted millwork details, which are timeless. The dining room, although contained in its own area, is still very much a part of the scene.”
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Kitchen with island
Small Wonder
2022 Winner: Kell Architects
Remodel/Addition, Less Than 800 Square Feet | St. Paul
Even the smallest of additions can make a big difference. Such was the case for the kitchen and adjacent spaces in this 1920s Tudor that, with an addition of only 84 square feet, now enjoy an efficient layout and substantially more daylight. The addition—a bump-out into the backyard—allows for generous circulation around a new island and all key parts of the kitchen. Attention to the home’s period character includes hand-carved woodwork encasing the range hood, which replicates a similar detail found on the fireplace mantel. “[The renovation] stitches in seamlessly,” one judge said. “I love the material and color palette, carrying the wood tone throughout the house.” Another judge said, “I can see how the owners might never leave the kitchen.”
The Kell Architects team: Meghan Kell, AIA; Ann Hauer // Builder: Terra Firma
Slip and Slide
Second-Place Winner: Slip ’N Slide // CityDeskStudio
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Photos by Spacecrafting
house from the backyard
Architectural team insights: “Distinguishing characteristics included modern, high-performance floor-to-ceiling windows with thin profiles that blur the lines between indoors and out, allowing the home to live big while keeping it comfortable in every season. Gable forms create vaulted ceilings…providing a feeling of simple grandeur.”
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Living room
Prairie Simplicity
2022 Winner: PKA Architecture
New Home, More Than 3,500 Square Feet | West Fargo, North Dakota
Fond memories of growing up in a spacious one-story rambler inspired this couple—who for years lived in downtown Chicago—to explore raising their children in a similar environment. With a stand of oak, elm, and box elder trees as a focus and natural windbreak, the architectural team designed a U-shape home blending modern and rural vernacular forms. Its palette of organic materials is featured in hardwood floors, a stone fireplace with brushed-steel surround, custom walnut and painted cabinetry, quartzite countertops, and an airy steel balustrade with wooden handrails. “The design team practices a lot of restraint in designing this residence,” one judge said, noting, “The material palette is limited but effective.” Another described the design as “clean and modern while maintaining a warm and inviting feel” and “elegant and unassuming.”
The PKA Architecture team: Kristine Anderson, Associate AIA; Bob Le Moine, AIA // Interior Designer: Martha Dayton Design // Builder: Tomlinson Schultz
Isles Modern
Second-Place Winner: Isles Modern // PKA Architecture
Photos by Scott Amundson
ocean beach house
Architectural team insights: “Among the main challenges in the design were the incredibly steep site, strict zoning rules to protect the shoreline and neighboring views, consideration of seismic activity, and protection against rough weather off the ocean.”
Coastal Drama
2022 Winner: Rehkamp Larson Architects
New Home, 2,000–3,500 Square Feet | Oregon Coast
A nod to architecture from the 1960s and ’70s, along with a desire to feel comfortable and protected on a precarious site, topped the list of priorities for this family getaway. Mono-pitched (pitched in one direction) roof structures provide shelter from winter rain and summer sun, and the cantilevered deck and living room maximize the connection to the landscape. Durable, sustainable materials on the exterior, including stainless steel, concrete, cedar shakes, and ipe decking, were selected to stand up to the coastal conditions and patina over time. Similarly sustainable materials, such as wood, plaster, and concrete, wrap the interior. “All design choices play nicely within its context,” a judge said. “The beach, the slope, and the neighbors are treated well in planning and materials.”
The Rehkamp Larson team: Mark Larson, AIA; Ryan Bicek, AIA // Interior Designer: Anne McDonald // Builder: Kevin F. Russo
Edmund Residence
Second-Place Winner: Edmund Residence // PKA Architecture
Photo by Spacecrafting
Back of A-frame house with poolx
Architectural team insights: “Distinguishing characteristics include modern windows and a carefully curated materials palette. The architects selected exterior brick with a contemporary character and a sympathetic color palette to play well with the main house while avoiding a sense of false history.”
City Sanctuary
2022 Winner: PKA Architecture
Outbuilding/Detail/Special Project, Less Than 800 Square Feet | St. Paul
Few outbuildings find themselves referencing main buildings as storied as this—a former Lutheran church designed in the East Coast collegiate style before being converted into a home decades ago by the late Minnesota modernist George Morrison and his wife, artist Hazel Belvo. When the current owner purchased the Mac-Groveland home, he knew he wanted to replace its outdated two-car garage with a three-car garage and pool house/urban retreat that felt special. Taking inspiration from the materials and details of the main house, the architects designed a simple brick structure with a single, slate-roofed gable. Noted a judge, “The creation of space below the deck is a perfect addition poolside, while the glassy end gable lends a unique character to the loft above.”
The PKA Architecture team: Gabriel Keller, Associate AIA; Andrew Edwins, AIA // Builder: Marsden Building and Remodeling
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Bunkroom hideaway
Bunkroom hideaway
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Birdhous studio
Second-Place Winner (Tie): Bunkroom Hideaway // Albertsson Hansen Architecture—Birdhaus Studio // Saunter Architecture Workshop
RAVE 2022 Judges
Jessica Ainsworth
Jessica Ainsworth-Truong, Associate AIA, an associate professor in the School of Design at Dunwoody College of Technology, has dedicated much of her professional career to igniting passion in interior design and architecture students. Her classes focus on design history, detailing, and design process, with a special emphasis on place and culture. She encourages students to develop their own approach to design that is authentic and empathetic.
Kar-Keat Chong
Kar-Keat Chong is a Minneapolis architect and watercolor artist. In 2018, he founded Studio KKChong, an architecture and art studio, to pursue his passion in both disciplines. Previously at Perkins and Will, HGA, and Snow Kreilich Architects, Chong has experience ranging from corporate office interiors and industrial buildings to apartment complexes and residences. He serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design.
Samantha Mendiola
Samantha Turnock Mendiola, AIA, is a design principal at HGA in Minneapolis. She has designed award-winning projects for arts, higher education, museums, health care, academic and public libraries, corporate and customer experience environments, and experiential design. A recipient of the 2021 AIA Minnesota Young Architects Award, Mendiola serves on the AIA Minnesota Executive Board, leads the AIA Minnesota Equity Council, and is co-chair of HGA’s National Design Council.
Bruce Sniter
Bruce D. Snider is a writer and journalist specializing in architecture, construction, and historic preservation. A former senior editor at Custom Home, Residential Architect, and Remodeling magazines, he has written extensively for such publications as Preservation, Down East, and Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors, as well as for architecture firms seeking to present their work to the media, the public, and prospective clients.
John Kraemer and Sons logo
Presenting Sponsor: The recipients of this year’s RAVE Awards were recognized at an event in November presented by John Kraemer and Sons. Since 1978, this family-owned, multigenerational business has established a reputation for building and remodeling some of the finest architecturally designed luxury homes in the state. Its collaborative, transparent, and ethical approach has inspired its recognition as Builder of the Year a record four times by Housing First Minnesota.
