Dave Hoepner celebrated 25 years at MMY at the end of the month.  Dave has been a vital part of our team here, and we want to thank him for all the past and future efforts because we hope he’s sticking around for a long time (though another 25 years might be too much to ask for, he’s going to want to get a few more golf games in while he can).

Mattson Macdonald Young are the Structural Engineers for Five of the AIA Minnesota and Star Tribune’s 2010 “Home of the Month” Selections. Take a look at the AIA’s website here.  They have the pictures of the homes.  We’ve written up our part of the projects in this Case Study.  Ours is the cool structural stuff that doesn’t generally show up in the pictures.

The Saint Anthony Falls Office Building recently received LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Phillips Building houses The Jay & Rose Phillips Family Foundation, a private foundation that provides grants and leadership resources to nonprofit organizations. The building was originally the Pillsbury Library, constructed in 1904. Mattson Macdonald Young worked with Domain Architecture & Design to renovate the existing structure and the addition of a rear entry structure to conform to the accessibility requirements.

The renovated structure earned the LEED certification with the use of natural light to reduce energy demands, insulated and reflective roof covering and sustainable manufactured materials. Nearly all the construction waste was recycled. The building has also won the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Award and awards from the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota for Adaptive Reuse and Sustainable Design Excellence. MMY is proud to have been part of this project.

Hennepin County’s new library opened in Plymouth, MN on March 13th, 2010.  We have to say the community was excited to have the library open again, based on the remarkable attendance at the opening.  Mattson Macdonald Young worked with Bentz Thompson Rietow Architects to create a facility that doubles the size of the previous building and provides large open spaces as wells as focused areas for teens, adults and children.  Read our brief case study here.

MMY has added a new white paper on Residential Bearing Wall Removal.  We’ve noticed that there’s been a noticeable increase in the number of residential remodeling projects that have come through our office in the last year.  People are choosing not to move or build new and are instead improving the home where they currently live.  One aspect of these remodels is Removal of Bearing Walls.  Whether for creating a more open floor plan or trying to get the pool table to fit in the basement, removal of a bearing wall can be a practical option. This article addresses some of the questions people have and gives some suggestions on what to consider when contemplating removing a bearing wall.

Consider this a gift from your friends at MMY!  Check out the MMY Adjust-O-Scale, which allows you to scale drawings that are anywhere between 1/16″ = 1′-0″ to 1/4″ = 1′-0″ with a graduated scale.  This is great for when you get a pdf that’s not to a specific scale and you need to check a dimension.

Two projects MMY engineered were recently featured in Midwest Home magazine (December 2009) and the Star Tribune newspaper home section (January 10, 2010) respectively. Kudos to our Architect friends at TEA2 Architects, Charlie and Company and Swan Architecture.

Having a project featured in articles is always a nice pat on the back that is well deserved, particularly for the architects who must do so much to make a project a success. We are happy to see the projects featured in articles as it means that the owners are pleased with the results. We helped the project succeed by ensuring that the structure behind the architecture is sound and economical.

Mattson Macdonald Young provided structural engineering services for a residential project recently featured in the Star Tribune Sunday Homes section.  The design of the new rural house was covered in a previous Case Study, see “Progressive Farmer Residence” to the left.  Eric Bunkers worked with Rehkamp Larson Architects to create a traditional looking farm house which utilized many energy efficient systems and building materials.  For more information,see the article here along with photos (opens in new window).