WEST DES MOINES, Iowa --Kum & Go LC has announced that it has selected international architect Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) as the architectural firm to design the convenience store retailer's new corporate headquarters. The 120,000-square-foot Store Support Center (SSC) will be the newest anchor to the Pappajohn Sculpture Park in the Western Gateway area of downtown Des Moines, Iowa.
RPBW's expertise is in designing buildings with open, collaborative space that use natural light to connect with its outdoor environment and an ability to build lasting, yet flexible buildings that retain functionality as workspaces evolve over time, said Kum & Go.
Founder and Pritzker Prize laureate Renzo Piano has said that "there must be a symbiotic relationship between the collective needs of the public and the personal needs of the individual, further elaborated in the rapport between the building and its environmental context."
The architect selection process included written proposals that led to six finalists, which Kum & Go interviewed last month. In the upcoming months, it will select a local architect and general contractor as the design process begins.
"We look forward to working with RPBW to create a building that offers an open, collaborative and engaging working environment for our associates, while also facilitating interactions and connections within the downtown community," said president and CEO Kyle J. Krause. "We will design and build our Store Support Center to be an extension of Kum & Go within the greater community."
Founded in 1981, the RPBW is an international architectural practice with offices in Paris, Genoa and New York. The Workshop is led by 14 partners and permanently employs nearly 130 people.
RPBW's portfolio includes:
- New York Times building.
- Art Institute of Chicago modern wing.
- Harvard Art Museums renovation, Cambridge, Mass.
- Kimbell Art Museum expansion, Fort Worth, Texas.
- Menil Collection, Houston.
- London Bridge Place, London.
- Kansai International Airport terminal building, Osaka, Japan.
- Rome Auditorium.
- Maison Hermès, Tokyo.
- Morgan Library, New York.
- Central St. Giles mixed-use development, London.
- California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.
Visit www.RPBW.com and its Facebook page to view the portfolio.
Kum & Go announced plans earlier this year to leave its West Des Moines corporate office and build a new, 120,000-square-foot headquarters. Officials with the convenience store chain say the project is expected to be complete in 2017, reported The Des Moines Register.
Kum & Go officials have said the new headquarters will house about 300 employees initially, but will likely include space for the company to grow.
Local architects say the project will require restraint; the building should frame the sculpture park without drawing too much attention from it.
Krause agreed. "What you want to do is have a building that can relate with the sculpture garden in the best way possible and not compete with the sculpture garden," he told the newspaper.
RPBW was one of the six internationally known architecture firms Kum & Go considered for the project (according to the newspaper, the others were Bjarke Ingels Group, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Morphosis, Safdie Architects and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill). Experts said the list shows Krause is aiming to create a landmark building.
Click here to view the full Des Moines Register report.
West Des Moines, Iowa-based Kum & Go is the fifth largest privately held, company-operated convenience store chain in the United States. The family-owned company began in 1959, in Hampton, Iowa, and has grown to more than 430 convenience stores in 11 states (Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming).
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