Ironclad, Minneapolis

Collage Architects LLC designed the Ironclad mixed-use development to connect with the site’s historic and contemporary architecture. The development was built where the Union Grain Elevator, or Elevator E, was constructed in 1867. It was one of the city’s largest wood grain elevators. In 1892, the grain elevator was destroyed by a fire and, subsequently, rebuilt with iron.

Joshua Jansen, of Collage Architects, says, “The only remaining visual signs of the grain elevator were the stone and the peculiar shape of the site driven by the historic railway, so we decided to design the building with an angular shape to emulate the old elevator. Our building is much more angular than every other building that fronts Washington Avenue and has a piece that juts out to take on the old form of the elevator that you can actually walk beneath. We wanted this design to be imposing, impactful and incorporate high design.”

The Ironclad development includes residential, hospitality and retail spaces. It houses 418,864 square feet in two buildings. The first, an apartment building, is 14 stories with 171 units. The second, Moxy Minneapolis Downtown hotel, is eight stories with 148 rooms.

Collage Architects sought to preserve a visual corridor between U.S. Bank Stadium and the Guthrie Theater. Jansen says the color of brick was chosen to clad the hotel to emulate the site’s history and the apartment building is clad with metal panels to reflect the stadium, Guthrie Theater and an evolving Washington Avenue corridor.

The majority of the apartment building is clad in custom French Beret Lighter ALUCOBOND PLUS metal composite material (MCM) panels, supplied by 3A Composites USA Inc. and installed by Berwald Roofing and Sheet Metal Co. Inc. ALUCOBOND PLUS Brilliant Silver Metallic MCM was used for vertical and horizontal accents at floor lines.

“We selected the silver color as an obvious cue from the stadium,” Jansen says. “We wanted to reflect the energy of the historic rail line and the new stadium.”