Clockwise from top left: Belfry Apartments and Mixed Use, Lake Elmo City Center, Minneapolis American Indian Center, Oxbow Park Nature Center, Wake Tech Community College Public Safety Facility, Rudd Public Library. We Are Sharing Hope SC, and Moona Moon.

For high-resolution images of individual projects, contact Chris Hudson.

MINNEAPOLIS, June 25, 2025 — AIA Minneapolis announces the eight recipients of the 2025 Merit Awards, an honor bestowed on projects designed by AIA Minneapolis architects that tell a story of excellence beyond design, emphasize public-interest design, and embrace the varied forces that shape a building. Unique in its approach to awards jury composition, the AIA Minneapolis Merit Awards program is judged each year by a business owner, a real estate professional, a community advocate, an academic leader, and an architect.

The eight AIA Minneapolis Merit Awards recipients are:

  • Belfry Apartments and Mixed Use in Minneapolis, designed by UrbanWorks Architecture. This reimagining of the historic Calvary Lutheran Church site as a community for residents earning at or below 30 percent of annual median income (AMI) consists of a sanctuary restoration, the adaptive reuse of the church’s education and office wing into 21 deeply affordable apartments, and a new 20-unit residential building.

  • Lake Elmo City Center in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, designed by Leo A Daly. This project transformed an outdated office building and more than doubled its size with two new wings, creating a new hub of community activity. The new facility provides enhanced wellness for city staff, vastly improved public-safety readiness, and increased access for residents of Lake Elmo.

  • Minneapolis American Indian Center in Minneapolis. On this project, Cuningham worked as a consultant to Full Circle Indigenous Planning + Design and was responsible for project design. A cornerstone of the American Indian Cultural Corridor on Franklin Avenue since its opening in 1975, the MAIC had been flagging prior to a multi-year renovation and expansion. The transformation, completed in 2024, has enabled the organization to return to its roots in cultural programming and expand its services.

  • Moona Moono in Minneapolis, designed by Keep. This thoughtful renovation of a shuttered stationery store into a cafe and retail space celebrates Asian American and Asian culture. Pegboard and maple plywood paneling add warmth to the environment while a light frame draped with cotton fabric bounces light deep into the floor space.

  • Oxbow Park Nature Center in Byron, Minnesota, designed by Alliiance. This new 13,100-square-foot building is designed to enhance environmental education, wellness, and recreation in southeastern Minnesota. Replacing the park’s original 1981 building, the facility offers modern, accessible spaces that expand capacity and programming for schools, community groups, and families throughout the region.

  • Rudd Public Library in Rudd, Iowa, designed by OPN Architects. In late 2021, the small town of Rudd in north central Iowa suffered widespread damage from an EF1 tornado, including the decimation of the public library. Rebuilt on a new site next to the community’s recreation center, this new 1,800-square-foot library makes the most of its small footprint with simple massing and materials, openness, and daylighting.

  • Wake Tech Community College Public Safety Facility in Wendell, North Carolina, designed by Leo A Daly. This 77,000-square-foot facility is both a gateway building for a new campus and a state-of-the-art training facility for future first responders and regional public safety agencies. It features a full indoor simulation village with a realistic streetscape for multidisciplinary scenario and de-escalation training.

  • We Are Sharing Hope SC in Charleston, South Carolina, designed by RSP Architects. This new headquarters for an organization that provides life-saving organ, eye, and tissue donation is designed to be a serene respite in harmony with nature for staff, donor families, and the wider community. The complex includes a training center, administrative offices, a clinical wing, public spaces, and an extensive garden with meandering walking paths.

Each year, one or two Merit Awards recipients is named the winner of the Michael L. Schrock Merit Award, an honor created in memory of the architect who helped develop the awards program. The special honor is awarded to the winning project or projects that most embodies Schrock’s Seven Rules of Architecture:

    1. Know where you are from.

    2. Know who you are.

    3. Know why you are.

    4. Respect your benefactors.

    5. Honor the environment.

    6. Architecture must serve those who occupy it.

    7. There is beauty in functional, economical, safe, environmentally responsible, owner-driven architecture.

This year, the jury bestowed the Michael L. Schrock Merit Award on the Minneapolis American Indian Center and Rudd Public Library.

The 2025 Merit Awards jury included Andy Biggs of AVM Construction, Ned Dodington, AIA, of Expanded Ventures, Rebecca Muchow, AIA, of NELSON Worldwide, and Ben Smith, Ph.D, of the University of Minnesota. The jury reviewed the entries for how well the projects support the health and well-being of occupants; address critical social, economic, and/or environmental needs of the community; reduce burdens on the environment; promote economic development; and utilize innovation.

The 2025 Merit Awards will be presented to recipients at the AIA Minneapolis Mid-Summer Social & Merit Awards Celebration at the offices of Ryan Companies on July 24, 2025, at 4:30pm. Learn more about the Merit Awards here.

AIA Minneapolis is the largest chapter in Minnesota with more than 1,600 members. Centered in Minneapolis, the chapter territory includes the southwestern portion of the state. As a large chapter, AIA Minneapolis participates with other large AIA chapters nationwide to focus attention on significant issues facing AIA members. The chapter provides leadership, networking, and outreach opportunities for its members.