Waterford Bay apartment building has a large, long, and narrow footprint forming a convex V-shape on the shoreline of a bay off the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minn.
BKV Group designed Waterford Bay with a modern industrial design. Notably, the entire exterior is wrapped in metal wall panels. To build it, MG McGrath Inc. installed metal wall panels in three colors: 2,044 m2 (22,000 sf) of flat concealed fastener panels in custom orange and bronze finishes, and 1,951 m2 (21,000 sf) of flat concealed fastener panels in matte black.
Importantly, Waterford Bay sits on land once occupied by Island Station Power Plant, which was built in the 1920s, had been vacant for 30 years, and demolished in 2014. The city approved the project in 2019, and it was completed in 2021. The building houses 243 units. 
Renato Gilberti, AIA, partner and senior design lead at BKV Group, says his firm wanted its design to reference the site’s history, and incorporating, and creating access to, surrounding landscape was key to the developer’s marketing plans.
“The client wanted a project that would attract younger tenants seeking a more active outdoor lifestyle,” Gilberti says. “We wanted to give the building architecture a refined industrial feel as a nod to the site’s industrial past, while using the building massing to frame and embrace the views and trails from and around the site.”
Architects at BKV Group worked with Friends of the Mississippi River and the National Park Service, which controls the surrounding Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, to create a kayak/small-boat launching area, and a pair of public bike paths.
“The client is very happy with the design; they are
95 percent leased, and it has been very well received in the City of St. Paul,” Gilberti says. “I am very happy with the overall visual impact of the building, particularly along the building’s primary facade.”