The First WELL-Certified Law Office in Minnesota
July 17, 2025
The Maslon conference rooms in particular benefit from advanced ventilation systems. Photo by Gaffer Photography.
PROJECT GALLERY
When the law firm Maslon set about renovating its office on the 29th and 30th floors of Capella Tower to better support employee health and collaboration, it chose Perkins&Will Minneapolis as its design partner and the WELL Building Standard as its measuring stick. The latter is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health and well-being. WELL Certification requires adherence to rigorous standards across air, water, nourishment, light, movement, and other factors that influence workplace experience.
Images 1–5: Maslon’s new space embraces openness and connectivity. Employees benefit from glass partitions that maintain privacy while increasing visibility, equitably sized offices, an open work café fostering informal collaboration, and a dynamic, flexible workspace tailored for modern work styles. Photos by Gaffer Photography.
The project achieved certification at the Gold level through the integration of advanced ventilation systems, equitable access to daylight, design strategies promoting movement and interaction, and live plant installations that improve air quality and provide visual connections to nature, among other measures.
“WELL Certification complements sustainable practice and is about creating spaces where people thrive,” says Anne Smith, senior interior designer at Perkins&Will’s Minneapolis studio. “Maslon embraced a revolutionary approach to law office design, prioritizing well-being, collaboration, and flexibility in ways that challenge traditional legal workplaces. We’re proud to have helped bring this forward-thinking vision to life.”
A Leesman survey measuring workplace experience showed a significant jump in Maslon employee satisfaction after the renovation, with scores rising from 71.4 to 86.5—far surpassing the industry benchmark of 66.1.
The Maslon project team included Perkins&Will Minneapolis, Greiner Construction, Michaud Cooley Erickson, BKBM Engineers, and Kvernstoen, Rönnholm & Associates.
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