On Des Moines’ historic Ingersoll Avenue corridor, Goldfinch Lofts sets out to redefine what affordable housing can look like in a Midwestern city. The three-story, mixed-use building replaces a long-vacant bank with a structure rooted in contemporary urban design and low-carbon construction. Its ground floor opens to the street with nearly 10,000-square-feet of neighborhood-serving retail and restaurant space, while the upper floors hold 28 income-restricted apartments calibrated for households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income.
At the core of the building, Southern Yellow Pine cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor panels and glulam beams are paired with high-performance light-frame assemblies to balance embodied-carbon reduction, construction efficiency, and long-term operational performance. Engineered for Passive House certification and designed to meet ILFI’s Zero Carbon standard, the superstructure uses wood not only as a renewable resource, but as a carbon-sequestering material that supports the project’s commitment to long-term environmental stewardship.
Behind the scenes, Knop Killeen Architects and Thornton Tomasetti delivered a building defined by precision. A shared digital model became the project’s backbone, coordinating timber fabrication with the integration of structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Prefabricated components arrived on site already milled to their final form, sliding into place with a precision that kept waste low and construction moving swiftly within the tight urban block. Wrapped in continuous insulation, triple-pane glazing, and a Passive House–driven ventilation system, the building holds its warmth in winter and its cool in summer, offering residents quiet, steady comfort while using only a fraction of the energy a typical building demands.
