March 2017 – Minneapolis, Minn. – New trends are revolutionizing the banking industry and Wings Financial Credit Union is committing to the change. With the help of the interior designers at Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA), the team is developing a series of new prototypes and prototypical elements to introduce into Wings’ new and existing branches – dedicating themselves to the bank of the future, implementing emerging technologies and the design innovations that support them.
October 2016 – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota recently rolled out a new service providing members and non-members alike with insurance information, educational, and fitness classes. The architects and interior designers at Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA) assisted in designing these new “retail” concepts.
October 2016 – Eden Prairie, Minn. – On the fast track to becoming the leading provider in CRM and Salesforce consulting services, Demand Chain Systems relocated to a larger office space to house their growing team. With the help of the interior designers at Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA) they created a space that reflects their company culture and allows for future expansion of the firm.
July 2016, Chaska Minn. – The city of Chaska recently completed a renovation of Firemen’s Park located in the historic downtown area. Their goal was to upgrade the park, highlighting the town’s history and honoring the firefighters who helped develop the park years earlier. The city obtained 292 Design Group for the architecture and design. With their help and the structural engineers at Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA) the re-designed park is complete and ready for the community to enjoy.
July 2016 – Lino Lakes, Minn. – School is out for summer but Lino Lakes Elementary is still taking on a new assignment. The school is in the design phase of a multiple year remodel to modernize multiple facets of the building. Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA) is partnering with Martin Pevzner, Kraus Anderson and Loucks Associates to bring an innovative new design to the district.
July 2016 – Minneapolis, Minn. – Banaadir Academy located in North Minneapolis houses 300 students each day and is hoping to increase that number in the upcoming years. With the help of The Bainey Group and Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA) the school is expanding with a new addition that will provide 2 additional classrooms, offices, a new gymnasium with vinyl flooring, and additional boy’s and girl’s restrooms.
April 2016, Bloomington, Minn. – Spring is in full swing and so are the new attractions at Mall of America. With the help of the design team at Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA), Parkview Meeting + Event Center and FlyOver America – located within Nickelodeon Universe, are open to the public.
April 2016 – Bloomington, MN – Shredder’s Mutant Masher is shaking things up at Nickelodeon Universe. The new ride opened in the theme park at Mall of America and with the help of the architects and structural engineers at Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA) has people swirling, spinning, and swinging more than 60 feet in the air on a giant pendulum – cowabunga!
March 2016, St. Paul, Minn. — Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates, Inc. (KOMA) worked with Rahr Corporation to design their 20,000-square-foot pilot brewery and technical center which will be fully operational beginning early spring.
February 2016 – Apple Valley, Minn. – With plans to relocate their Apple Valley branch within the city, Merchants Bank purchased a building and with the help of Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA) and Elder Jones turned the space into a functional, bright and modern place reflective of the bank’s brand.
When I paused to take inventory of professional goals, designing my own home was not high on that list. As a long-time commercial architect, I last designed a house as an assignment in college, but through various twists and turns I’ve found myself doing it again – this time for myself. It has been an unpredictable process that brought this about and through it I’ve learned many things and ended up with even more stories.
We have interiors on the brain and so we thought it was only fitting to sit down with our newest interior designer, Leanne Tanguay, and get her thoughts on design inspiration, trends and why she loves interior design.
July 2016 – School is out for the summer and with the longer days and warmer weather comes the memories of those good old days when class was no longer in session and time was spent soaking in the short-lived Minnesota season with late nights, bonfires, cabins, and bare feet. Of course we all miss those carefree days every once in a while but I am fortunate to have found a profession that makes work enjoyable (in every season) and makes education something to be desired rather than dreaded.
A few weeks ago, two of our interior designers Cindy Nagel and Leanne Tanguay headed to the Windy City to take in new interior products and trends at NeoCon 2016. They sat down to tell us the best of the best, what to expect in design and the best places to visit the next time you’re in Chicago.
We said a big congratulations to Alisha this past month when she passed her architectural registration exams and it got us thinking – what was the first project I ever signed…
If you asked anyone at Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates to tell you something about me it’s that I like bicycles. In the last (almost) 2 years I’ve only driven to work a handful of times, choosing to either walk or ride a bike most days. It’s true that I spend a lot of time with bikes: commuting, exploring, racing, road, mountain, fat or otherwise. What doesn’t always come through is my love for the outdoors in general, and my employment at KOMA has allowed me to maintain a healthy work/life balance in the time that I’ve been here that I’ve come to appreciate even more as time passes.
My wife and I had the fortunate opportunity this January to spend a week in the United Arab Emirates so I thought I’d put together a list of my favorite buildings. Not an easy task since Abu Dhabi and Dubai provided quite the sensory overload for an architect; therefore picking only six was quite the challenge! Here goes…
We are very honored to be the recipient of the 2016 River Heights Chamber Business of the Year Award. We have enjoyed being a part of the local chamber for the last 30 years and value what it has brought not only to our company but to the whole community. Check out our award video below!
In honor of our 30 years we decided to spotlight our entire team on the InterKOM – after all we couldn’t have made it this many years without them. We sat down to talk about how many years each one of our employees has been here, our favorite memories, favorite projects, and what we couldn’t have made it 30 years without.
June 2015, Inver Grove Heights, MN. – Most days it feels like I’m standing on one foot with an armful of balls, trying to keep my balance and not drop any; and as the years pass there are more balls added and that balancing act gets a little trickier. It seems like only yesterday, when I was newly married and had just joined Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA), life was a little simpler. Yet here I am fourteen years later celebrating the company’s 30 years, working as a managing partner, a husband with an awesome wife, and a father with four great kids. Some days I wonder how it all gets done but a healthy balance between our work lives and personal lives is an extremely important value to me and I am fortunate to be a part of a company who believes in a healthy balance just as much.