Designed by David O’Brien Wagner
with Marta Snow, AIA
The Breuer Guest Suites are ten apartments that are part of the Collegeville Institute, operated by the University of Saint John’s. Renovation work of each suite included kitchens, bathrooms, mechanical systems, interior furnishings, houseware selection, restoration of parquet flooring and restoration of exterior stone walls. No walls or openings were moved in the renovation process.
Marcel Breuer designed the ecumenical studies complex in the 1960s as his designs for the University and Abbey were being built. The Guest Suites offered space for diverse leaders of faith and religious scholars to gather for discourse and contemplation. Over 50 years later, the structures had seen only modest upkeep; the interiors needed updates and improved functionality. The intent of the Saint John’s Design Committee, led by the monks, was to adhere to Breuer’s spirit, while adapting to contemporary lifestyles and code standards. The renovation was not one of historic preservation, but adaptive re-design with required approval by the monk’s Design Committee.
Our approach began with thoroughly researching Breuer’s career from the Bauhaus, to collaborations with Walter Gropius, to his Brutalist work, including Saint John’s Abbey and elsewhere. From this we developed a document for our client that outlined the importance of Breuer’s legacy and guiding principles from which to achieve project goals.
A quote from Breuer, from a lecture at Harvard, resonated with our project ethos: “One of the most embarrassing problems of ours: what to choose from all that is offered. To value and to select the right things is a vital discipline. This is what I would call the direction of thought, the direction of work progress, and the direction of contemporary mentality. From many things you are supposed to reach -to select- the most purposeful, the right one, the one which is meaningful for the human existence.”
Construction by Breitbach Construction Co.
Photographs by Troy Thies
Awards
2025 Residential Design Architecture Awards – Residential Special Constraints
2025 RAVE Award, Mpls.St.Paul Magazine
Publications
RD Magazine Online
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