Legat Architects

Legat Architects is an architect in Iowa City, IA. The firm works with building owners and communities on architectural and interior design, with practice areas spanning learning, wellness, and community projects. Its architects and interior designers collaborate with school leaders on environments for students, design healthcare facilities focused on patient-centered care, and shape community buildings. Named projects include the Heartland Community College Net Zero Agriculture Complex in Normal, Illinois, the Ottawa YMCA in Ottawa, Illinois, the Clarendon Hills Train Station in Clarendon Hills, Illinois, Bright Futures Preschool in Galesburg, Illinois, the Metra Station in Tinley Park, Illinois, and Northwestern Medicine Dermatology in Geneva, Illinois. Services include architectural design, renovation and remodeling, construction documents, construction administration, consultant coordination, post occupancy services, programming, community engagement, pre-referendum services, client surveys, fundraising assistance, media presentations, and graphic design and brochures. Master planning work covers facility needs studies, site selection and analysis, feasibility studies, campus planning, space utilization studies, planned communities, urban planning, and mixed-use developments. Special projects include building enclosure roof and wall repairs, life safety surveys, code and ADA compliance, repositioning, condition and compliance assessment, infrared moisture survey, repair and replacement budget projection, storm damage assessment, leak detection, and remedial design and spec development. Legat Architects was founded in 1964 in a Waukegan, Illinois home and later moved into a renovated church in that city. Over the decades the firm opened additional studios across the Midwest and now maintains offices in Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Iowa City, Iowa. The firm expanded into Central Indiana by welcoming Indianapolis-based Studio 3 Design to the Legat network, adding a portfolio of healthcare, hospitality, and multifamily facilities. Legat states that design inspires curiosity and improves lives, and that it builds resilient communities, supports holistic wellness, and cultivates lifelong learning. Its stated values include kindness and respect, an ownership mindset, lifelong learning, resourcefulness, collaborative mentorship, environmental stewardship, compassionate relationships, and a research-driven design process. The firm maintains an AIA 2030 Studio commitment and a Sustainability Action Plan. Jim Hollenbrand is Studio Director for Iowa City, and the team includes principals, senior architects, and interior designers across its studios. The Iowa City studio sits on E College St, steps from the Weatherdance Fountain and the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall. South Clinton Street and East Burlington Street are each about a tenth of a mile away, as are the University of Iowa's MERGE facility and UI QuickCare. Legat Architects has served clients for six decades, and its portfolio spans more than 30 countries.