urbanMSP

I don't know. Still not in love with it. Doesn't seem to interact with the park or surrounding area well. Look at the size of those windows, etc. Hopefully I'll like the finished product.

At the same time, it's a factory, so probably not a great view for pedestrians. Unless they have it set up like a Krispy Kreme shop It will be made up for I think. Love it.

At the same time, it's a factory, so probably not a great view for pedestrians. Unless they have it set up like a Krispy Kreme shop It will be made up for I think. Love it.

Yes, should be great. A quirky and imaginative building like this doesn't happen often.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?! Lol.

At the same time, it's a factory, so probably not a great view for pedestrians. Unless they have it set up like a Krispy Kreme shop It will be made up for I think. Love it.

Speak for yourself. I love doing factory tours.

At the same time, it's a factory, so probably not a great view for pedestrians. Unless they have it set up like a Krispy Kreme shop It will be made up for I think. Love it.

Speak for yourself. I love doing factory tours.

Actually, they'd be crazy not to do something... like a brewery tour... with free izzy's at the end!

Those punch windows facing the park look so tiny- much smaller than they appeared in the model or that last rendering.

At the same time, it's a factory, so probably not a great view for pedestrians. Unless they have it set up like a Krispy Kreme shop It will be made up for I think. Love it.

Speak for yourself. I love doing factory tours.

Actually, they'd be crazy not to do something... like a brewery tour... with free izzy's at the end!

The various governmental bodies that regulate and inspect our commercial food chain would probably go into conniptions about an ice cream factory tour that was open to the public. You don't really want the general public hanging out in an area where uncooked food is being processed in the open.

I think breweries get a pass because none of their product has open air exposure where it comes into contact with the public.

In one day I went on both the Ben and Jerry's factory tour as well as the Cabot Cheese factory tour. I like dairy. I think the Ben and Jerry's one had glass partitions and such to separate people from the actual processing, but the cheese one was open air. I don't suppose it'd be too hard to accommodate if you're planning for it from the beginning, but it'd be a bit hard to tack that kind of thing on at the end.

I've done the Ben & Jerry's tour in Vermont before too. I was younger, but I found it pretty underwhelming. You basically watched a video and then looked at the factory through a window before eating a small sample scoop.

By the way, has anybody tried the new Ben & Jerry's cannoli flavored ice cream? It's quite good.

This is great. We'll have a creative architecture in Theatre, park, ice cream, performing arts school, and potentially stadium all within blocks. And all rooted in historic Mills and The Depot. Just good fun over here.

Well kudos to the architect. My two year old told me to "look at the people building on the boat"

For those of you noticing how almost nothing is different from the last picture... I should mention almost the entire other side of the building is covered in some type of black sheathing.

You can't really tell in that picture, but on the right side you can look into that big window and see people on some sort of second-level patio or something.

The size of this building is the most 'human scale' in comparison to the surrounding buildings..
It will also have a mezzanine and rooftop (herb) garden.

Didn't they do Wild Rice Restaurant in Bayfield WI?

yes he did. such a beautiful restaurant!

At the same time, it's a factory, so probably not a great view for pedestrians. Unless they have it set up like a Krispy Kreme shop It will be made up for I think. Love it.

i think it may have something to do with the fact that those windows are facing the west side (ie. low sun, bigger glazing = more heat, more energy consumption to keep the kitchen comfortable ?). I read that izzy's foster sustainable/responsible practices, and energy efficiency may play a big part on the design decisions. I hear that the south facade will have solar panels, similar in style with salmela's design on bagley classroom building for UMD. see images: http://www.aiatopten.org/node/45

That's excellent. Got to love Passive Solar site specific designs.

The exterior of this is currently covered with black water sealing material. Coupled with the fact that the massing on this is almost identical to the Guthrie (but on an obviously smaller scale) the park appears to be flanked by twin buildings right now. It's pretty neat- I will try and get a picture before they cover it up, but someone else can feel free to beat me to it if they want. Regardless, the exterior will probably be going on this within a week or two. I bet this will be up and running by summer!

IMG_2945 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr

It's coming along!