Westminster Presbyterian Church Expansion

Our team has been collaborating with Westminster Presbyterian Church, James Dayton Design, Mortenson Construction, the City of Minneapolis, the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (“MWMO”), the landscape architect and several other consultants on this church expansion and renovation project along Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. This project includes over 30,000 square feet of interior renovations, a 40,000 square foot building expansion, 2 levels of underground parking and several site features including plazas, patios, landscape beds, a drop-off area, a fountain, a green roof, and various stormwater management features. The most noteworthy stormwater management feature is a 25,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system to supplement the irrigation system and for flushing toilets in the building addition thanks to a grant from MWMO for innovative stormwater management and educational outreach. Construction was completed in 2018.

Project Overview

Client: James Dayton Design, Ltd.
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Services: Site Analysis, Stormwater Modeling, Civil Engineering, Permitting & Regulatory Approvals, Grant Assistance, Bidding Assistance & Construction Observations

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Challenges

Site is located within a dense area on Nicollet Mall so accommodating the adjacent roadways and utilities, which are undergoing substantial renovation, was difficult given the large number of stakeholders and varying project schedules.
Part of the church building is over 120 years old, which provided a challenge to safely integrate the existing structures and utilities.
By expanding the underground parking ramp, the entire site is being covered by the building and parking ramp, which removed the space available space for stormwater infiltration and ponding.

Solution and Results

Our team provided the necessary and value-added services including the site analysis, stormwater modeling, civil engineering, regulatory assistance, MWMO grant assistance, bidding support and the ongoing construction observations to help complete this project in 2018. We designed a system of stormwater features that includes a green roof, permeable pavers, sand filters and a rainwater harvesting system to supplement the landscape irrigation system, an outdoor fountain and for flushing toilets within the building addition. To help fund this system, we collaborated with MWMO to investigate, model, design and obtain grant funding for this sustainable and innovative rainwater harvesting system.

Designed a multi-faceted stormwater system that includes above-ground and below-ground features for an effective and attractive solution.
Collaborated with the design team to design a green roof, permeable pavers and sand filters that were beautifully and efficiently integrated into the site design.
Collaborated with MWMO to help the Church obtain a $600,000 grant to help pay for the rainwater harvesting system.