Alchemy Architects

Alchemy Architects Alchemy makes stimulating, engaging, and efficient design attainable for a wide audience. Turning the mundane into gold—how can Alchemy deliver design to you?

Alchemy’s distinct hands-on approach to architecture and design combines a playful design process, collaborative relationships with clients, and partnerships with builders and fabricators to create a harmonious blend of site, building, and community. With sustainable practices as a mainstay of our daily work, Alchemy utilizes recycling and reuse along with building strategies that reduce waste. Ou

r multidisciplinary team draws inspiration from art, literature, history, and leading creative thinkers to create alternative and atypical project solutions. Alchemy's designs utilize efficient building methods including updated building science principles and innovative materials whenever possible. Our weeHouse® system and farm-tech projects have gained national + international recognition. Each Alchemy project exemplifies our dedication to limiting waste and maximizing the impact of our efforts. We leverage the intimacy of our (typically) smaller footprints with a modern aesthetic by efficiently using space, technology, and good environmental stewardship. By combining low-tech passive solar principals with the high-tech renewable energy technologies, we continue to develop work that is functional and efficient. Our goal is to make meaningful, engaging, and efficient design accessible.

More plants, more people, more ways of working.A low energy studio and greenhouse sits on the prairie, completing Robin ...
08/19/2026

More plants, more people, more ways of working.

A low energy studio and greenhouse sits on the prairie, completing Robin Dowden’s farm yard 10 years after building her weebarnHouse. A multitude of seemingly incongruent functions (greenhouse nursery, art workshop, guest house, yoga studio, and reading room) are gathered within the proportions of a compact granary.

The greenhouse, a nursery for the surrounding prairie and gardens, extends the studio through a glass overhead door. A plywood utility core integrates cabinetry, storage, and a murphy bed, with a loft above accessible by a custom-fabricated rolling ladder.

A home that opens up to the Pacific (literally). On HWY-1, the home takes the classic California Western Sun problem hea...
08/06/2026

A home that opens up to the Pacific (literally). On HWY-1, the home takes the classic California Western Sun problem head-on. Operable brise-soleil screens open like wings on the Eastern and Western facades to temper and filter harsh morning and evening light. The home is made up of two minimalist boxes anchored by two interior cores that define spaces and hold utilities.

Landscape work by the folks at TERREMOTO LANDSCAPE . Structural work by the folks at ISE Structural Engineers.

Slides 1, 2, 4,+ 5 photographed by Rio Asch Phoenix . Slides 6, 7, 8 photographed by Itai Vonshak.

Big thanks to all!

Bang Brewing: Grain Bin Pantheon.Bang Brewing is a 100% organic brewery next to our office in Saint Paul. A tiny buildin...
07/22/2026

Bang Brewing: Grain Bin Pantheon.

Bang Brewing is a 100% organic brewery next to our office in Saint Paul. A tiny building on a tiny budget, the brewery reflects their focus on sustainability and environmental stewardship.

A palette of silver with wood timbers salvaged from the Mill Road is accented by a bit of red and the brewery’s iconic custom insulated glass oculus dropped in the roof’s fill cap.

The outdoor pavilion is made from cranberry bog culverts and provides shelter next to rain garden rooms in the native prairie grasses.

Photos coming soon of the newest addition, in 2026, of a brew hall in the re-purposed pole barn on the lot. A new garden to accommodate even larger groups features cattle shade contraptions and giant blocks anchoring more shading.

AIA Minnesota is on the move, and we’re helping to reimagine a 750 SF space in Riverplace through reuse, upcycling, and ...
04/01/2026

AIA Minnesota is on the move, and we’re helping to reimagine a 750 SF space in Riverplace through reuse, upcycling, and the joy of architecture

— and we invite you to participate!

In collaboration with RJM Construction, AIA-MN, and the community, we’re working to build a low-carbon, high-impact design.

To make this vision a reality, we are calling on our entire community to help us source salvaged materials—ranging from screening and cabinetry to lighting and flooring—that can be transformed into beautiful, functional design elements.

You are invited to share your suggested materials and ideas with us, and we hope that you’ll join us for a virtual orientation and information session on Thursday, April 2nd at 12:00pm (TOMORROW!).

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Pc2Xb9rMSm-Fg2MDwISe2Q #/registration

Built for the intensity of Northern Minnesota’s climate, the Lutsen weeHouse stays warm through winter and cool in the s...
03/19/2026

Built for the intensity of Northern Minnesota’s climate, the Lutsen weeHouse stays warm through winter and cool in the summer, with fixtures and finishes chosen for lasting quality and durability.

This modular weeHouse, prefabricated largely offsite, sits on Spider Lake near Hayward, WI. Three boxes are both modern ...
02/26/2026

This modular weeHouse, prefabricated largely offsite, sits on Spider Lake near Hayward, WI. Three boxes are both modern and rustic, nicely crafted, and Of The Woods. A small log cabin was originally on the property, and situated too close to the water for an addition to be allowed. The logs were carefully removed and repurposed to clad the new home’s exterior - holding on to the history and materials of the property.

Natural oil finished flooring, metallic silver paint, and hot rolled steel are used to accentuate the different spaces inside. Upstairs are there bedrooms: two intimate cubbies with bunks or queens, and a larger primary bedroom.

Black hot rolled steel grounds the fireplace and contrasts with the clean white kitchen. The expansive interior defies the homes actual 1500 sf, size making it more intimate, more affordable, and more sustainable.

Details, details, details!Design that transcends the ordinary and champions the tactile, the unique, and the personal. W...
02/19/2026

Details, details, details!

Design that transcends the ordinary and champions the tactile, the unique, and the personal. We’re sharing some things we pay attention to from a couple of projects we love:

1 Bridge
2 Key Shelf / Lightswitch
3 Stair
4 Towel hooks
5 Hot rolled steel door
6 Charger station

Today, news that the U.S. government is aggressively deregulating the EPA, repealing the legal foundation for a large se...
02/12/2026

Today, news that the U.S. government is aggressively deregulating the EPA, repealing the legal foundation for a large set of climate rules, at a time when the effects of climate change are more apparent than ever.

Also today: photos from a project we’re wrapping up in Scandia, Minnesota, prioritizing energy efficiency with a 15” thick cellulose-filled wall system, robust triple-glazed tilt-turn windows, and low-carbon materials throughout.

Policies may change, but we’re going to continue to work as we always have, focusing our output on the essential and making space for what matters— the places, people, and experiences that inspire our work.

Address

856 Raymond Avenue, Studio G
Saint Paul, MN
55114

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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