Baatz Building Apartments

Great Falls, Montana

The Baatz Block Apartments project has been honored with a trio of prestigious awards. In addition to winning both the 2026 Citation Award for Design Excellence AIA Montana Design Award and an AIA Florida Northwest Design Award, the project received the 2025 Preservation Award from the Great Falls-Cascade County Historic Preservation Advisory Commission. Completed in Fall 2025, this landmark rehabilitation transformed a long-vacant building in downtown Great Falls into permanent supportive housing for 25 households experiencing homelessness and housing instability. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024, the project successfully restored historic storefronts and architectural features while adapting the structure for contemporary living.

BSPARK Architecture, in close collaboration with Cognitive Design, worked hand-in-hand with co-developers Homeword, Inc. and NeighborWorks Great Falls to bring this vision to life. Guided by trauma-informed design and deep community engagement, the architecture prioritizes resident dignity, safety, and long-term stability. Every detail—from open sightlines and consistent lighting to individual HVAC controls—supports resident well-being and independence. Salvaged historic elements, including original cast-iron radiators and a beautifully restored central skylight, reinforce a profound sense of permanence and pride.

The final programmatic design features 25 stable apartments across the upper two floors (including 8 fully accessible units) alongside an upper-floor community room with a full kitchen, computer work and training areas, a central laundry facility, and dedicated offices for caseworkers and service providers. The ground floor hosts a community services facility to anchor neighborhood support. To ensure structural compliance and historic integrity, all work was meticulously designed under the strict criteria of the State HOME Program, the Montana Housing Tax Credit Program, and National Historic Preservation Tax Credits, in partnership with Guy Tabacco Construction and BeauxSimone Consulting.

Contractor: Guy Tabacco Construction

Photo Credit: Cody Brown