Grand Marais, MN
2018
Salmela Architect
Travis Van Liere Studio
Taiga Design + Build Development

Tre Søstre is located in Grand Marais, Minnesota, and was developed for the housing needs in the community of Northern Minnesota. The name means“three sisters” in Danish which comes from the site’s three housing structures, which are not only intended to provide shelter, but also to inspire. As a small art and tourist destination on the North Shore, new housing options were needed to help support a growing and seasonal population.

The site once consisted of two properties with dilapidated structures which were removed to increase density and prioritize site circulation. Steep slopes on the site were mitigated through strategic path configurations and layers of retaining walls that were built from refuse stone from nearby taconite mines. Requiring a cost-effective means to provide high-quality design, the project was able to combine both sustainable and economic factors into design solutions. These restrained design moves speak to the larger context of the Minnesota North Shore and provide a low-impact approach to the design of the site.