CO-OP Architecture

05/29/2026

New terminal, 1.5M people coming and going annually.

05/28/2026

This one is about another Friends & Citizens summer intern that will be in our Aberdeen office. This is Ava, going into her fourth year of architecture school at SDSU. She was born and raised in Brea, California. Brea is near Los Angelas. Ava has family in the Redfield, South Dakota area, and has moved there for recent summers. She says winters are an adjustment and recommends you carry a heavy coat with you at all times, just in case. A trip to D.C. as an 8th grader inspired her interest in architecture. She loves sushi. Incidentally Aberdeen is about as far from Redfield as Los Angelas is from Brea. But with less traffic. We are pleased to have Ava in our Aberdeen office this summer and look forward to great things. Thanks.

05/27/2026

Here I'd like to introduce Taylor. She is a Sioux Falls native, and a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska with a degree in Interior Design and a minor in Architectural Studies. Jared and Kyle in our office went to school at Nebraska as well. It is a fine school, and Taylor's school portfolio was very well done. She'll be joining the Friends & Citizens program this summer and staying on board as an Interior Designer. She's currently adjusting her circadian rhythms to become more of an early bird. She thoughtfully mentioned to me that holistic design, with music, nature, details can make for a more complete built environment experience. She can knit and sing Amy Winehouse karaoke, and likes that Noah Kahan singer, who I like too. We're very happy to have Taylor with us. Thanks.

05/22/2026

Here’s a picture of a groundbreaking for the Douglas Middle School addition in Box Elder, South Dakota. Douglas is a unique school district that supports the Ellsworth Air Force Base which is home to the B-21 Mission. The intent of this project is to increase the functionality of Douglas Middle school from 612 students to 742. I’ve highlighted Jared and Juan with big red arrows. Thanks. Tallgrass Landscape Architecture Towey Design Group Albertson Engineering Inc. West Plains Engineering Gustafson Builders

05/22/2026

Here's a project that recently came in under budget over at Lake Area Tech in Watertown South Dakota. The Agriculture Commodity Risk Management Lab. Thanks.

Thanks to the generous support of the CHS Foundation, Lake Area Technical College is launching an innovative Agriculture Commodity Risk Management Lab — one of the first simulation-based trading labs at a two-year college in the Upper Midwest.

This state-of-the-art space will give students hands-on experience with commodity marketing, risk management, live market analysis and real-world trading simulations using industry-standard technology. The lab will support students in Ag Business, Ag Production and Livestock Production & Management programs while also creating opportunities for high school students, FFA members and industry partners to engage in agricultural career exploration.

This investment is helping prepare the next generation of ag leaders with the skills and confidence needed to succeed in today’s evolving agricultural industry.

05/06/2026

Yesterday we chatted with the community of Elkton, South Dakota on some school planning that we've been helping with. Many K-12 schools have been added on to over generations without a strategy to maximize functionality, safety, and efficiency. Our goal is to help align current priorities with future needs to accomplish the best long-term use of tax payer dollars. I'm not sure how Elkton got its name, but I know Elk used to roam in eastern South Dakota. The school mascot is the Elks. The last natural Elk disappeared from South Dakota in 1888, but they shipped some back over from Yellowstone Park in 1911 to the Black Hills. We have a lot of Elk in the Black Hills now, several thousand, and they are known to roam over to eastern South Dakota. I just read yesterday that there is actually an Eastern South Dakota Prairie Elk license available for hunting, which I had no idea about. I don't really see Prairie Elk, but maybe they're making their way back to Elkton. The community school meeting went well, and consensus on the path forward is building. I've highlighted Justin and Tom O. with red arrows. Thanks. Elkton School District #5-3

05/06/2026

In 1954 an ambitious guy named Reinhold Wurth took over his dad’s small screw wholesale company at age 19. In 1971 the company got into electronic components, like circuit boards and other complicated things. Now they are a global company with many divisions and are currently building their North American Würth Elektronik Headquarters in Watertown, South Dakota. We’re helping on the project and we walked around a bit yesterday with Brian and Jason and took some pictures. If you’d like, you can look through them here. Thanks. Gensler Würth Elektronik Group Heyer Engineering Inc. IMEG MichaudCooley Confluence - Landscape Architecture Gray Construction Co. Canfield Interiors

04/29/2026

Our CO-OP Aberdeen office is planning to relocate later this summer to the Citizen's Building (more on that later). We'll be leaving the Minneapolis & St. Louis Depot on South Main, a property we took over 2013. Nobody, and I mean nobody, wanted to tackle this. We called everyone we knew. Finally someone from SHPO office said, "why don't you do it?" Anyway, the M&SL was completed in 1907 and ran until 1949 as passenger rail service. In 1968 the Depot Club opened, and we learned about how the older generation had more fun than we thought. In 1976 it was put on the Historic Register. It was facing the wrecking ball and one guy told us that M&SL stood for "Maimed and Still Limping". It was a mess of a project, but we utilized the brick from the baggage area to rebuild the falling and missing bricks on the north and west walls. The roof was not really a roof at all. But it was a labor of love, and it's been a great home for CO-OP Aberdeen for more than a decade. Ameriprise loved the building and took over ownership of the property some time ago, and for us, now it's onward, there's more buildings to keep restoring. Thanks.

04/28/2026

Cailyn snapped some pictures of the interior of Sacred Heart Church in Yankton that we helped with. Our friends at Conrad Schmitt did a superb job, including with their brushes. Capturing a spiritual experience is an intriguing design challenge. Justin in our office logged hours on this one. Thanks.

04/25/2026

The Business and Health Innovation Center, which opened in January, houses NSU’s School of Business and nursing program.