Grand View University, a liberal arts school in Des Moines, IA, recently opened a new classroom facility named the Rasmussen Center for Community Advancement Professions. The 40,000-square-foot, $7.7 million facility houses several academic areas, including the art, education and social science departments for Grand View University and the Richard O. Jacobson Center for Education and Social Sciences. The facility is named in honor of Grand View alumnae Jim and Sandra Rasmussen to honor of their family’s financial commitment to the university.

FEH Associates, the architect and interior design firm responsible for the Rasmussen Center, created a design that mixes the old and the new features of the Grand View University campus. It incorporates the stately identifying features of the Humphrey Center with the new building’s own state of the art characteristics. Before the grand opening of the new facility, which would become the gateway for the entire campus, a donor recognition solution needed to be created, fabricated and installed to honor the financial donors that made the new building possible.

In partnership with FEH Architects, ASI designed, fabricated and installed the complete interior signage and donor recognition solution for the Rasmussen Center. The solution includes a large multi-panel donor recognition wall that is mounted to the wall of the main stairwell, metal cut dimensional lettering, and donor plaques mounted above each doorway of the facility. To complement the interior design color scheme of the facility, ASI incorporated colored accent pieces into each donor recognition panel. To keep a creative design flow throughout the center, the colored accents were alternated so that the same color in the room was not on the plaque above its door. In addition, ASI designed and produced custom metal brackets that hold the message panels in place that bring key exterior design elements into the center.

The complete signage solution is finished with a textured acrylic paint that reflects the color scheme for the center and to resemble the stained glass used in the main staircase of the building. The completed solution was delivered on time and on budget for the grand opening of the center and it effectively honors the contributions and history of the center’s namesake.

For more information on this project, including images and a downloadable PDF case study, click here.