Wildlands Development Transforms Northeast Bozeman with Sustainable, Community-Centered Design.

45 Architecture & Interiors’s design for The Wildlands Development is a finalist in the 8th annual GRAY Awards in the Mixed-Use Development breakout category.

FINALIST

Breakout category: Mixed-Use

Designer: 45 Architecture & Interiors

Images: Whitney Kamman

Video: George Potter, Wild Vision Films

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SUBMISSION

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The Wildlands Development is a mixed-use renovation and expansion project located in Northeast Bozeman, Montana. At the heart of the project’s design was the goal to integrate it seamlessly into the fabric of the neighborhood. Care was taken to enhance public walkways with custom fabricated seating, new landscaping, and large soffits that provide cover for the community to gather. The building steps up to its 3-story full height as you move away from the street, making the transition feel more natural from the 1-2-story buildings surrounding it. Regionally appropriate materials such as brick and wood siding were used, and murals were painted on areas of the façade to tie into its surroundings, which is a distinctly artistic neighborhood within Bozeman.

Wildlands was conceived as a connection point within a growing neighborhood that still wanted to maintain its sense of community; a place to link users of the unique and increasingly urban landscape of Bozeman with opportunities for adventure in the region. This juxtaposition inspired the Scandinavian modern aesthetic of the building and increased the focus on the pedestrian and neighborhood experience.

The Wildlands Development fundamentally changed the nature of the site. Where once had been a typical parking lot with several curb cuts, an enhanced streetscape was built featuring landscaping, custom seating, and a semi-public covered plaza. Parking was moved to the rear of the project and divided between an enclosed garage for residents and an open lot for customers of the bakery, deli, and other tenants. A breezeway cuts through the ground floor, giving pedestrians access to Peach Street and the development’s commercial tenants.

Upstairs, the residences were designed to take advantage of viewsheds with large, covered decks and expansive windows. Each unit includes premium features such as a fireplace and European-made cabinetry. Amenities such as a dog wash, temperature-controlled parking garage, and generous storage spaces make the building a desirable place to live.

The development is a reuse and adaptation of an existing building. It was designed with great care to protect and insulate the occupants of the residential spaces, and to ensure that the neighborhood can take advantage of common spaces offering shelter and protection from the elements under the covered plaza and canopies at the lower-level storefronts, which were built to lessen solar heat gain.

Inside each unit, Energy Star-rated appliances were installed, along with programmable thermostats and advanced Low-E insulating dual pane windows with argon. The highest-efficiency furnaces (98% efficient) were used in every unit, and each include a modulating, variable-speed fan to reduce and manage energy usage. Low-VOC paints were used throughout the interiors, and a VRF heat pump system provides cooling and heating to each of the common spaces, along with a heat-recovering ventilator to capture the energy from the exhaust air to pre-condition the incoming outside air.

The exterior of the building leverages steel and low-maintenance Kebony-modified wood siding, which is sustainably harvested and requires no maintenance beyond regular cleaning. Landscaping includes drought-tolerant and water-smart planting selections, and the residential garage includes has EV charging station with four other EV-ready stalls.

The project was an exercise in problem-solving, requiring the design team to tackle conditions such as an infill site with tight property boundaries, and two food & beverage anchor tenants, which remained open throughout the entirety of construction. The site is also within the Bozeman Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District, requiring the design to be evaluated for appropriateness within the Northeast Neighborhood, a historic and iconic area north of Downtown Bozeman. Upon completion, the building fits naturally into the site and was instantly adopted by the community as the gathering hub for art, entertainment, and conversations for which it was designed.

DESIGN TEAM:

Jeff Lusin, Principal in Charge

Aaron Overstreet, Director of Design

Kim Everts, Technical Director

COLLABORATORS:

Contractor: Langlas & Associates

Civil Engineer: Sanderson Steward

Landscape Architect: Field Studio Landscape Architects

Structural Engineer: DCI Engineers

MEP: Morrison-Maierle Inc.

Interior Designer: Gallatin Valley Design Group

Geotechnical Engineers: TD&H Engineers

Acoustical: Listen Acoustics

DESIGNER PROFILE:

45 Architecture & Interiors is an award-winning planning, architecture, and interior design firm based in Bozeman, Montana, with a studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Our work includes comprehensive design services for residential, commercial, education, civic, and sports & recreation clients. With a focus on designing experiences that fit a site’s natural surroundings, we make it a point to incorporate our clients’ unique stories into each build.

The firm’s origins date back to 2014, but it was in 2016 when design principals Ben Erickson and Jeff Lusin joined forces to form 45 Architecture & Interiors as it’s known today, combining their backgrounds to create a nimble studio with a wide range of experiences and deep roots in Montana. Ben’s work on civic and public projects including K-12 schools, gyms, and higher education sports facilities cemented his fondness for projects that directly impact the community. Jeff brought his expertise in high-end residential and commercial projects from the Bay Area and Portland back to Bozeman, and together they merged their backgrounds and styles to yield a portfolio that is proudly dynamic, spanning across public and private sectors in both rural and urban markets.

For Ben and Jeff, the idea that doing good and being good for business can go hand in hand is foundational to their business model. “Partnerships, not projects,” is an oft-quoted motto at 45, and the team will go out of their way to accommodate work that is human-first, even when it doesn’t necessarily pencil out financially. This shared value has become a guiding force and one that drives decisions at the firm daily. Great clients come first at 45, and our goal is to provide guidance and support to our clients, to collaborate harmoniously with them, and to ensure our designs meet their needs and deliver exceptional results.

The 8th Annual GRAY Awards is sponsored by: