Take A Tour Of This Historic Yellowstone Renovation Project By Cushing Terrell

Cushing Terrell renovated Big Sky Economic Development’s new space to honor the history of Billings while looking to the future by helping new and existing businesses flourish and grow.

For Big Sky Economic Development (BSED) — a public-private partnership dedicated to sustaining and growing Yellowstone County’s vibrant economy and quality of life — renovating the 100-plus-year-old Montana National Bank building as a business incubator space was the perfect way to facilitate meaningful connections and provide resources for start-ups and small businesses in the region.

The design goals for the 24,110-square-foot renovation project were to create a state-of-the-art, interactive space geared toward collaboration, wellness, and productivity, and to honor the history of Billings while looking to the future by helping new and existing businesses flourish and grow.

“Having an entrepreneurial center in the heart of downtown Billings is the big piece of it. You’re not only driving future business owners into downtown, but also encouraging the surrounding community to leverage this place as somewhere to come together,” says Nick Bowers, Project Architect.

To realize a business incubator space centered on connections and coworking, the Cushing Terrell design team incorporated a broad range of space types — from large open work areas and training and conference rooms to smaller offices and partially private breakout areas. Most space types were designed to create welcoming connections and visibility between them, while the openness of the building itself and the intersection of spaces create an energy that invites networking and shared inspiration.

Robust user engagement activities were utilized to get to the core of what was needed, with input from different sectors of the Billings business community, including the 40 BSED board members. Stakeholders were highly interested and engaged in the process and participated in deep-dive exploration sessions to review design concepts and materials and to decide upon the overall design theme.

All user engagement activities were conducted virtually, as this was during the height of the pandemic, but given Cushing Terrell’s work on large, comprehensive workplace projects with global tech firms, the project team had in-depth knowledge of how to effectively utilize online tools and technology to fully involve people in the collaborative design process.

Overall, the project entailed interior renovation of all four floors of the former bank building, preservation of the exterior, landscape architecture to enhance the streetscape, and upgrades to the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. The basement and the first floor offers flexible and varied co-working spaces, private and shared offices, and are the home of Rock31 — an organization that provides resources and connections for entrepreneurs with peers and mentors. The second floor includes a training room which could also double as an event space to support community events. The mezzanine and third floor is reserved for BSED offices.

Currently, 20 owners, operators, and businesses rent the space. There are no long-term leases; each member instead signs up for monthly memberships. The variety of space types help make it financially viable for BSED and small businesses while giving anyone who comes there a broad mix of opportunities to engage and explore.

Project Planning

Robust user engagement activities were utilized to get to the core of what was needed, with input from different sectors of the Billings business community, including the 40 BSED board members. Stakeholders were highly interested and engaged in the process and participated in deep-dive exploration sessions to review design concepts and materials and to decide upon the overall design theme.

All user engagement activities were conducted virtually, as this was during the height of the pandemic, but given Cushing Terrell’s work on large, comprehensive workplace projects with global tech firms, the project team had in-depth knowledge of how to effectively utilize online tools and technology to fully engage people in the collaborative design process.

Celebrating the buildings history was of high importance to the team. Investigation of original drawings revealed window openings that were built over as part of previous remodels. These windows were opened and now showcased in the final design.

Project Details

To be budget conscious, the team made smart, intentional decisions about the tenant improvements, deciding to retain much that was there, stripping down and exposing old walls, and letting the original structure shine through, while accenting the walls with new finishes.

“In the early stages of the design process, we studied the 1918 construction drawings and identified opportunities to punch through existing openings to visually connect adjacent spaces, uncovered the brick walls, as well as preserve historic architectural features such the original marble stair treads and risers and the marble mosaic tile at the stair landings,” said Interior Designer Madeline Randolfi. “To maintain the historic aesthetic of the existing plaster, a skip coat of plaster was used keep a refined decorative finish throughout the building.”

A concrete foundation wall was exposed and refinished to celebrate the original 1928 building within the pitch space, revealing the unique history. The foundation wall was illuminated to accent the various textures and shadows creating a dramatic backdrop during presentations, and an historic vault in the basement was reused as a podcast production studio.

Products 

Overall Project Results

Change management was an ever-present component of this project. Restoration projects inherently have unforeseen problems to solve, but a large board of directors and project management team created additional challenges. Through user engagement sessions, Cushing Terrell created an environment for board members, BSED team members, and prospective tenants alike to provide input.

Collectively, the team established goals for the project, as well as look and feel aspirations. Planning principles were also vetted to ensure all parties understood and bought into the overall end goal. This allowed future decision-making to be streamlined because the project management team was armed with first-hand input from the rest of their stakeholder group.

Project Summary

Entities that serve the community are always held to a unique standard. The outcome of this project had to be elegant enough to draw in prospective entrepreneurs and the community, while remaining modest enough to properly conduct a public/private entity like Big Sky Economic Development. This resulted in a dance to manage costs. The Cushing Terrell team had to ensure a strong future through efficient MEP systems (full system overhaul) and structural upgrades while showing restraint with intentional and modest finishes.

The outcome is a contemporary design that celebrates the history of the building through intentional moments that reveal the past. Execution of this vision was only possible through tireless efforts from the ownership team, contractor and designers.

Design Team

Consultants:

• Contractor: T.W. Clark Construction LLC
• Industrial Engineer: Northern Industrial Hygiene

Cushing Terrell Team:

• Brad Sperry, Shannon Christensen, Holly Michels, Nick Bowers, Corey Stremcha (Architecture)
• Chelsea Holling, Ava Alltmont (Historic Preservation)
• Madeline Randolfi, Sasha Tonkovich (Interior Design)
• Caleb Minnick (Civil Engineering)
• Cole Moller (Structural Engineering)
• Allyn Jorgensen (Mechanical Engineering)
• Jeff Haidle, Michael Gieser, Holly Wigen (Electrical Engineering)
• Dayton Rush (Landscape)
• Michael Gieser (Lighting)

Photography credit

• Karl Neumann Photography