Kansas Health Foundation & Leadership Center

Kansas Health Foundation Building

Launched by the Kansas Health Foundation in 2005, the Kansas Leadership Center promotes civic leadership with the goal of creating stronger, healthier communities. To be able to do more for the community, the organization needed a built-to-suit, statewide headquarters that would include a conference center for the Kansas Health Foundation.

With experience in institutional construction and headquarters development, we initially began working with the Foundation to help them identify their needs – building size, features, amenities and budget.

We worked with them for about a year while the Kansas Leadership Center searched for the perfect property. Ultimately, a site next to the Kansas Health Foundation was chosen. Our integrated design-build approach appealed to the client as it allowed them to hire one cohesive team with vast experience rather than bidding an architect and contractor individually.

We leveraged our unique design-build process and in-house expertise to create solutions that met the needs of this multi-use facility.

The proximity to the Kansas Health Foundation building creates a campus feel. The new building carries on the Prairie- or Mission-style design while also reflecting its original limestone by using complimentary-colored architectural precast concrete.

We created an open and inviting face to the public streetscape with several architectural design features, including a highly transparent glass vestibule facing the streetscape and organizing the interior spaces around a circulation spine and pathway that leads from the building entrance, up the open stairs to a second-floor library loft space and up another set of open stairs to the top floor.

Kansas Health Foundation Renovation

Following the success of the Leadership Center, Kansas Health Foundation tapped our team to complete renovations in their main building.

Work on the Foundation's space included:

• office areas and conference spaces were remodeled
• exterior windows were replaced
• exterior façade was upgraded

We created a collaborative, open office environment that consolidated the offices onto the first level and opened the rest of the building to expand the meeting and conference spaces that are crucial to their work. This created a more functional, efficient and collaborative facility.

Our team designed the space to enhance existing design features like the ornate millwork and stained glass.