Designing a new workspace for 220 architects, engineers, and interior designers in a tight three-month time frame presented Wold Architects and Engineers with a unique challenge. But just over a year after deciding to move out of its 10-year home in St. Paul, Wold is a few finishing touches away from moving into its large investment.

The design team’s priority was to facilitate collaboration with a “future-thinking” approach that met the needs of the younger employees.

The office occupies the 21st floor and part of the 22nd floor, with a panoramic view of the city; the two floors are connected by an internal staircase.

The upper-level features amenities like a company training center, a company café with a kitchen island, which also serves as an area for social gatherings, as well as an outdoor patio with built-in heaters for a change of scenery from the desks.

Patrick Triggs, one of the project designers, describes the lower floor’s layout as “smaller neighborhoods within the community,” with adjustable lighting and a contiguous open path along the windows.

The floor consists of 266 dedicated, traditional workstations that each employee can personalize, along with multiple conference rooms, meeting rooms, and private pods that provide a quiet environment, as well as a library. Project storage areas are laid out throughout the floor to avoid cluttering desk space with material.

“Anybody that comes in really gets a sense of who we are and what we’re about,” says Josh Ripplinger, the healthcare practice leader at Wold.

What: Wold Architects and Engineers headquarters
Where: 50 S Sixth St., Minneapolis
Size: 57,000 square feet
Designer: Wold Architects and Engineers
Photograph: Courtesy of Wold Architects and Engineers