To maintain a fast-paced schedule, Walsh Bishop has already started the schematic design phase of our new building.  Dennis Walsh, Troy Goetz and Stephen Knowles are leading a team that is currently working through three significant issues that will have design and other project implications. 

They are:

1. Finalizing plans for the new elevator

2. Determining new windows and daylighting options

3. Exploring geothermal/mechanical systems and needs. 

In addition, Andrea Hammel Wollak is leading our sustainable design efforts as we excitedly pursue LEED Core and Shell certification at a platinum-level!

Walsh Bishop is committed to using this space as a standard for what we do and how we live, create and connect.  Continue to watch this space for regular updates on our progress!    

Walsh Bishop is thrilled to announce that we are now the proud new owners of an office building in Minneapolis’ warehouse district.  The property will be built out to accommodate not only Walsh Bishop’s offices, but also other tenants who will be attracted to what is planned to be a simple, elegant and bold environment that allows us to fully practice what we preach.  

Walsh Bishop will be moving out of what has been a fairly traditional corporate environment to one that will speak directly to our identity and present an innovative, sustainable and creative environment that supports and promotes the work we do for our clients.  The warehouse district of Minneapolis is a hip, design-forward neighborhood full of trendy restaurants, shops and galleries.  The building and space we plan to create is not just one with appropriately high standards and performance expectations… it is the type of building environment that should BE the standard, a role model that showcases how the environments we create are designed in connection with the community surrounding it, and as a result of the people who will inhabit the space.   

We invite you to watch this space for regular updates as we continue to move forward with this exciting development!  

Walsh Bishop and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians are proud to showcase Michigan’s newest hotel-casino facility, Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel! 

The all new, 360,000-square-foot Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel in Williamsburg, Michigan, is bringing casino gaming in the Midwest to an entirely new level of sophistication, convenience, and comfort. And the unique facility’s striking modern design incorporates many environmentally responsible elements: LEED certified building materials, state-of-the-art under floor ventilation system, large skylights providing daylight to the gaming floor, energy efficient lighting, and areas of green roof. Turtle Creek is one of the first casinos designed to such a high environmental and aesthetic standard.

Turtle Creek’s Grand Opening was on June 24th, so make your reservations now. Get ready to relax in one of the hotel’s elegant suites before checking out an impressive variety of gaming options on the 52,000-square-foot gaming floor. Cruise by the cascading water wall, through the high stakes lounge, sample the distinct dining choices, enjoy the color changing lights from one of the many vistas overlooking the gaming floor, and finally enjoy some great live music in the night club before calling it a day. It will take more than one day to enjoy everything Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel has to offer.

Check out this past Sunday’s article on Turtle Creek Casino on Michigan’s mlive.com!

http://www.mlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2008/07/_the_turtle_risesall_new.html

We’re pleased to have been awarded another Jake’s City Grille in Plymouth, MN. The Walsh Bishop team is all about developing long term and rewarding relationships with our clients! Since developing the prototype concept for Owner’s Rob and Tony Jacob, we’ve designed three other facilities for the brothers, each meeting outstanding success. The concept for the casual eatery blends the energy of a city café with the comfort of a neighborhood gathering spot. The prominent and open bar creates a welcoming first impression, with the open flames of the wood fired oven adding warmth and a buzz of activity as the chef’s prepare signature dishes. The concept features private dining areas, a patio seating 150 customers with a full bar for Minnesotans craving the summer sun. The Plymouth location will be one of their largest facilities, with over 8,900 SF, but they have no worries about filling up the joint. They currently operate the building as a Jake’s Sports Café – a concept they are phasing out over several years. It’s successful for them, but with an eye to the future and growing competition, they know that their City Grille concept will out perform, not only their current revenue, but their other locations have proven thatit consistently beats the national chains. People are hungry for something unique and different from the homogenized consistency of the franchised restaurant – and the brothers are poised to deliver. Jacob Restaurant Group owns and operates three Jake’s City Grille, two Jake’s Sports Cafés and Esquire Magazine’s 2006 Best Bar in America, Nye’s Polonaise.

http://www.crash-sues.com/ 

This Memorial Day weekend, many Minnesotans headed to Black Bear Casino to check out the new gaming facility. Doors just opened this past Thursday, May 22, 2008!

The new gaming floor is over 81,000 square feet and holds 2,000 slot machines. Guests can choose from three eateries in the new space: the chic Seven Fires Steakhouse, the casual Buffet at the Bear, or the cozy Sage Deli. And what better way to end your night than by hitting the dance floor at the new Cobalt Nightclub and Cabaret, featuring live entertainment and free admission!

Walsh Bishop proudly worked with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa to transform Black Bear into one of the top resort destinations in Minnesota. And that transformation is nearly complete! The 250-room, 12-story hotel tower opened in February, and the convention center will be open soon. Watch for Black Bear’s Grand Opening later this summer!

And this year’s winner - in the Redevelopment/Extensive Renovation: Large, Office/Industrial category - the Ramsey County Department of Records and Revenue! Congratulations to the Walsh Bishop project team!

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal recently presented their 2007 “Best in Real Estate” awards in downtown Minneapolis. For these awards, a panel of 10 judges chose 24 winners from hundreds of nominees. Walsh Bishop is proud to announce that our design solution for Ramsey County was honored with an award at this event!

So what was this project all about?

When the City of St. Paul targeted their existing space for a mixed-use redevelopment, Ramsey County’s Department of Records and Revenue needed to find a new home. The Walsh Bishop team was selected to transform the former home of the State of Minnesota Department of Agriculture, a vacant building in a state of disrepair, to successfully serve the Department of Records and Revenue. Through an extensive environmental audit and comprehensive redesign, Walsh Bishop converted the large lab environment into an efficient, functional, comfortable contemporary office space that now supports the department’s operations and employees, along with the general public. Our team brought an abandoned building back to life and back into the market, and developed sustainable guidelines specifically for Ramsey County that will be used to encourage and support responsible design solutions for the County for years to come.

As Ramsey County Project Manager Jerome Biedny noted, “The County certainly received long-term solutions to our design issues that exceeded our expectations.”

Walsh Bishop has sponsored a softball team in the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s Architect League for more than seven years.  Playing every Monday at the Lake Nokomis ball fields is a great way for us to enjoy working together as a team in a fun and relaxed environment, as well as to share some friendly competition with our rival architectural firms.  Did I mention that Walsh Bishop was undefeated last season?  We also started this season with a win last week and although I sense a repeat of last year’s stunning season, only time will tell!

Play ball!

Porter & Frye is Minneapolis’ newest fine dining restaurant. Our design team likes to think it’s the crown jewel of the Ivy redevelopment - even if its main dining room is in the basement. Two level restaurants are never easy to operate and can often feel disconnected, but the team assembled by Walsh Bishop Senior Designer Ed Wilms knew this space had a unique opportunity.

When Wilms and Owner Jeff Laux first toured the location, it was late in the development of the overall project, but standing in what is now the elegantly sparse dining room of P&F, you would have never known. The basement was dark, oppressive and filled with water mains, piping, HVAC ductwork. What little space that was left over was consumed with tables and chairs for a makeshift break room for the construction team of the tower.

Some sort of grand stair had always been planned to the lower level, but the concept plans from earlier designs called for it in the center of the room. Not only did that place it squarely in the midst of prime steak eatin’ real estate, it also did nothing to lighten the space visually. Wilms and Laux agreed from the first moment, that the stair should be moved to the corner taking advantage of the existing structure (read cheaper) and connecting an opening in the floor with natural daylight from the street level windows and window wells (read what a wow!).

The new grand stair makes the transition from day time lunches and happy hour revelry to elegant eatery below a true ritual. Descending the stair you approach the VIP see-and-be-seen booth that sits below and cascade of glass chandeliers. Custom designed oval dining booths offer privacy for dinner conversation - yet still let you survey the entire dining room. Metallic shear draperies allow the room to be divided into small rooms for private parties.

And to top it all off, Chef Steven Brown is making some of the most interesting and accessible food this side of the Mississippi.