The 71 France Apartment Complex, sporting attractive metal wall cladding from CENTRIA, offers its residents both luxurious and comfortable living quarters with its convenient location just minutes from downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Edina, MN’s newest upscale apartments feature pet-friendly studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts complete with stainless steel appliances, wide-plank floors, fireplaces, floor-to-ceiling windows, gourmet kitchens and more.
The complex houses a yoga studio, fitness center and an outdoor pool. Yet, 71 France is a short walk from all day-to-day amenities, including the Twin Cities’ best parks, upscale dining and shopping.
Local designers and architects wanted the chic 71 France Apartment Complex to stand out amidst the 2015 residential housing boom in close proximity to the Southdale Shopping Center. The building’s exterior needed to exude the same luxurious feel as each of its 236 apartment units in order to separate itself from the two other major apartment complexes recently built in the area.
Each of the complex’s three buildings exude a sophisticated metallic aesthetic with CENTRIA’s IW Series concealed fastener panels with a Charcoal Gray and Silversmith hue. Pope Architects of St. Paul, MN specified the concealed fastener panels for each of the three building exteriors to complement the private outdoor balconies that accompany many of the apartment units and the 20,000 square feet of retail space, adding to the building’s clean and monolithic appearance.
IW Series panels are the perfect blend of design and ease of installation. The panels feature a common-lock joint design that creates interesting visual effects with panels that can be mixed and matched throughout the building’s design. CENTRIA’s concealed fastener panels have the capability to be installed both horizontally and vertically in any climate, making them a perfect product solution when scheduling construction projects around the harsh Minnesota winter thanks to their quick and easy installation.
Handing contracting duties for this project was Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. of Minneapolis, MN. The CENTRIA products dealer was M3Sixty of Maplewood, MN. The installers were Preferred Properties Incorporated of Eagan, MN (Housing A & B), and Crossroad Construction of Ham Lake, MN (Housing C). The 71 France Apartment Complex measures a total of 470,000 sq. ft. The Housing A portion was completed in September 2015 and the Housing B & C portions were completed in 2016.
CENTRIA products used on this project included:
• IW Series IW-40A Concealed Fastener Panels - Square Feet: 45,709; Color: Silversmith; Coating: Sundance Mica; Finish: Smooth; Gauge: 22.
• IW Series IW-10A Horizontal Concealed Fastener Panels - Square Feet: 5,820; Color: Charcoal Gray; Coating: Fluorofinish; Finish: Smooth; Gauge: 22.