KKE Architects, Inc.,
a 160-person firm in St. Paul, broke ground last month for the new healing
center for the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), an international organization
that helps treat people physically, mentally, and spiritually. The firm
provided reduced-fee and pro bono
services to renovate an historic home and transform it into a working
office and care facility for the group.
The
architects say that they consider it their privilege to preserve the historic,
welcoming warmth of this 1886 house for CVT’s services while renovating
it to serve as a functional, modern-day office. “Sensitive to the
unique needs of this center, we have carefully created an interior where
patients and staff feel embraced by a home-like environment rather than
the potential discomfort of a clinical, sterile institution,” says
KKE Architects’ project designer Rob Grundstrom, AIA. “Working
closely with the Heritage Preservation Commission and the entire building
team, we also have ensured that the exterior easily blends within the
architectural traditions of this residential neighborhood.”
The new St. Paul Center will have room for support-group meetings as
well as special spaces for working with children and for healing ceremonies.
In addition to the homelike offices and meeting rooms, the center will
include an exam room and physical therapy room. The increased space will
permit an additional 150 adult clients, the majority of whom hail from
Africa, to receive care and rehabilitative services each year. The St.
Paul expansion also will enable CVT to conduct more complex research studies,
which will be used to improve torture-treatment programs around the globe.
Copyright 2003 The American Institute of Architects.
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