At Martin Gardner Architecture, we provide a wide variety of services for our clients. Whether you’re looking to revitalize a local historic landmark or plan a sustainable public space for your community, your project deserves a team that deeply understands the local landscape. For over 40 years, our team has worked diligently to bring creative, budget conscious design solutions throughout Eastern and Northeastern Iowa. Our collaborative, multi-disciplinary team is built to guide your project smoothly from the initial vision to the final build.
Interested in learning more? View our services below!
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Martin Gardner Architecture P.C. has been delivering exceptional architecture, master planning, creative placemaking, and consulting services across eastern Iowa for over 40 years. Our multidisciplinary team is built to guide your project efficiently from initial visioning through construction administration—keeping every phase on track and under budget.
We believe great design is a true partnership. Using collaborative tools integrated directly into our workflow, we keep you actively involved at every step so the final result seamlessly reflects your vision.
The team at MGA has helped shape communities throughout Iowa through our Master Planning and Creative Placemaking Services. Whether you’re looking to do a small plan for your local parks or a downtown redevelopment plan, our team of experts is here to help you throughout the entire journey.
Wanting to design an effective layout for your space that meets your needs? Our interactive Chip Game and Building Arranger tools, which focuses on direct input from the Users on what spaces have close relationships. The Building Arranger includes a simple chart for Users to fill out. The Chip Game prints out the space sizes for the Users to physically arrange into a first floor plan diagram. Sometimes only one of these tools is used. Sometimes they are used together to capture different modes of collaboration and learning.
At Martin Gardner Architecture, our team can provide you with high-quality 3D renderings of your project. Whether you’re looking to just see your vision brought to life, or you wanting to provide your clients and community a look at what’s to come, we will design 3D renderings fit to your needs.
At Martin Gardner Architecture, we provide our clients with modern laser scanning services that remove a lot of the guesswork and inaccuracies of outdated field measurement techniques. Through this process, we then can provide our clients with a full 3D scan of their space which can be used for a variety of applications including preservation, virtual tours, insurance claims, and more!
As stated above, 3D scanning can be utilized in a variety of different ways for different spaces. At Martin Gardner Architecture, we want to ensure that our clients and their projects are best suited for the future and through 3D scanning we can help achieve that. Below we outline the three main points we often run into when it comes to 3D scanning and it’s importance.
Inaccurate field measurements can lead to clashes, errors, and potentially thousands of dollars in change orders. At MGA, our high-definition 3D scanning eliminates guesswork. Whether it’s a complex renovation or a fast-paced new build, we capture accurate as-built data the first time.
That means fewer field fixes, zero wasted time, and potentially thousands saved. Plus, our scanned data drops seamlessly right into existing CAD and Revit workflows. Whether you’re doing a big remodel or a small renovation, 3D scanning will save hours of painstaking measuring
Protecting your assets is vitally important in today’s economy. In high-stakes industrial warehouses and educational facilities, guesswork is an expensive liability. Faced with sudden structural or a mechanical emergency today and don’t have the accurate data required to fast-track insurance claims? You lose out on potentially millions.
3D Scanning software generates complete and reliable spatial records of your building to ensure that when accidents do happen, you’re protected and backed up with empirical data.
Photographs miss the mark when protecting historic sites or public buildings by leaving out critical engineering data. For historic preservation boards and municipalities, having a permanent and accurate spatial record of our spaces isn’t about just archiving – it’s about mitigating risks down the line.
High-definition 3D scanning can capture reality as-is and turn complex environments into precise digital twins. These scans can not only protect a building’s legacy, but streamline structural restoration, provide data for future grant applications, and even be adapted into virtual tours.
At Martin Gardner Architecture, we have a rich history with historic buildings and sites across Iowa. Through the restoration of a variety of downtown facades through Community Development Block Grant projects to ensuring public historic buildings are stabilized and restored to last for generations, our team of dedicated designers have a passion for historic buildings.
Throughout the 40 years MGA has served Iowa we have worked on many projects which have been subject to compliance with Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. We also have lots of experience working with, and for, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) of Iowa. Bethany Jordan is a current Field Services Program Advisor for SHPO.
SHPO is committed to preserving and protecting Iowa’s historic resources. We collaborate with the office frequently and understand that their time is precious. Iowa Economic Development is the agency which administers these projects and is responsible to the Federal Government for compliance with the requirements of the programs. We understand the process of working with Iowa Economic Development in the review process as well. We believe our understanding of these projects and our familiarity with the program requirements helps us create appropriate projects that meet program requirements with a minimum amount of review and re-submittal. This helps keep project approval and review to the minimum possible. Mistakes can cost a project precious time as wait times for comments in the Section 106 review process is at least a month.
In collaboration with our work with Iowa Economic Development, we also will work with you and your project to seek Historic Tax Credits and other programs that may be available at the time. We again work with their grant administrators, building owner’s legal and accounting advisors, and local officials to comply with the requirements of the programs you desire to pursue. These are services which go beyond the scope of this project but reinforce the value of our involvement in the project.
The team at Martin Gardner Architecture has experience with the following funding sources that may be beneficial to your project:
USDA Funding, I-JOBS, FEMA 361 Safe Room Grants, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Vision Iowa, CAT, IDOT T-21, IDOT Scenic Byway, Main Street, State and Federal, Historic Building Tax, HRDP Grants, Vision/Enhance Iowa Grants
Our role in working on these funding sources varies somewhat with the agency. In most cases we provide architectural drawings of the chosen design, technical information needed for the application, and review of grant application materials. During the project development, we assist by including project requirements in the construction documents, providing assistance in preparing funding reports where appropriate, and in providing documentation of the project.
On occasion, such as the I-JOBS application listed above, we have written the grant application with significant input from our client. We prefer to work with a professional grant writer whenever possible. We also believe that use of a professional grant administrator is a good idea for facade programs if you do not have significant grant administration experience.
We believe that we have developed a good working relationship with these agencies. We work with several of these agencies often enough that we know the personnel who administer the programs. We are able to have questions answered easily and quickly because we know who to call and what to ask. We try to help our client’s work their way through the application process and the administration of the grants or loans in any way that we can. We would work with you to seek other funding sources that may be available for your project.