History

Young-Quinlan is a historic building located on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. Commissioned in the early 20th century by Elizabeth C. Quinlan, one of the only female retail entrepreneurs in the state at the time, it soon became a destination for fine fashion and accessories. A century later, one of the building’s long-term tenants JB Hudson Jewelry Store chose to relocate. Downtown Council used this opportunity to reintroduce women-owned businesses to the building and bring it back to its roots.

You can read the full building’s history here.

Intervention

The design team agreed on subtracting the compartmentalizing layers of recent histories and exposing what was there originally - a grand fashionable space giving the visitors a sense of a never-ending gala. Then, we chose to do a subtle intervention of color and colored glass inspired by the richness and multifaceted nature of the gemstone Peridot.

The floor plan combines community engagement, coworking, and retail spaces in equal measure. The goal was to make the building a mecca for the community and give the business owners a diverse array of market tools to leverage the space and keep the businesses sustainable. Depending on the economic climate, the owners may focus the space on community events, galas, retail, coworking, or art exhibits.

The space becomes an agile incubator of business ideas, flexible to adapt to a quickly changing economic landscape.