How Designers Transformed a Historic Carriage House into a Cultural Center

2023 Best of Year Winner for Office Transformation

Renovations of historic properties often yield surprises. In the case of a 1908 carriage house built for horses and linked to a mansion from the same era, both of which were donated in 1929 by Swan Turnblad and now contain the American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis—a place to experience Swedish culture and that serves immigrants of all backgrounds—peeling back layers of earlier modifications yielded such original details as textured floor pavers and a turntable used for rotating Turnblad’s car after he grad­uated from a horse. Some of these were incorporated into the 7,000-square-foot offices by HGA, which were given the warmth of a Nordic home with custom millwork painted a color inspired by the existing patinated copper on the building’s exterior.

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nancy blankfard; rebecca krull kraling; michelle hammer; andy weyenberg; ginny lackovic; justin bice; chrysanthi stockwell; elizabeth manning; kevin kaufman.