Ameriprise Minnetonka
Wealth Management Office Design

Ameriprise Financial

Nature Where the Windows Couldn’t Reach

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

THE SPACE BEFORE

Financial advising is a high-stress profession — and the clients who walk in are often navigating stressful decisions of their own. When these advisors purchased a new location in a standard office building, they knew a simple update wouldn’t be enough. The space needed to do something most offices don’t even attempt: actively lower the stress level of the people inside it.

THE DESIGN DIRECTION

The advisors wanted clients to feel two things when they walked in: trust and calm. Professional enough to inspire confidence, warm enough to put people at ease during conversations about their financial future. The challenge was finding a way to introduce that calm into a standard office building with average windows and no standout architectural features. We turned to the science of nature — the evidence that exposure to natural scenes lowers heart rate and blood pressure, supports immune function, reduces sick days, and increases overall wellbeing. The design question became: how do you bring the outdoors in when the building doesn’t give you much to work with?

WHAT WE WORKED WITH (AND AROUND)

Creating views where the building had none.

The windows were average — functional but not enough to deliver the nature connection the design needed. We partnered with a local photographer whose passion for nature matched the style of the practice’s owners. The result: original photographs enlarged to a full four feet square and simply framed, placed throughout the office as vistas — essentially windows to views that don’t exist outside. At that scale, you don’t just look at the image. You feel like you’re part of the scene.

Professional and calm aren’t always natural partners.

Financial offices tend to lean heavily on professional signals — dark wood, formal furniture, corporate neutrals. That can read as competent, but it doesn’t necessarily put someone at ease. We balanced warm wood tones and granite surfaces with softer textures, updated lighting, and a color palette that stays grounded without feeling corporate. The nature photography ties it together — every room has a moment of stillness.

Daylighting windows where they matter most.

We added daylighting windows in strategic positions to supplement what the building’s existing windows couldn’t deliver. These pull natural light deeper into conference rooms and common areas, supporting the same wellbeing benefits the photography reinforces. The combination of real daylight and oversized nature imagery creates a layered experience that feels open and connected, even in an interior office building.

A reception that sets the emotional tone.

Glass walls, a marble-topped reception desk, warm wood paneling, and the first nature photograph greeting visitors before they sit down. The reception area was designed to immediately shift someone’s state — from the parking lot to a place that signals care, competence, and calm. By the time a client reaches the conference room, the space has already done half the work of the conversation.

THE OUTCOME

Sit in any conference room at Ameriprise’s Minnetonka office and you’re surrounded by mountains, forests, rivers, and coastlines — all from a photographer who knows how to make nature feel close. The photographs aren’t decoration. They’re functional design elements grounded in evidence about how natural imagery affects people physically and emotionally.

The space proves that a standard office building doesn’t limit what’s possible. You don’t need floor-to-ceiling windows or a lakeside address to bring nature into the workplace. You need intention, the right creative partners, and a design approach that treats wellbeing as a measurable outcome — not just an aesthetic goal. For a practice built on trust and personal connection, this space earns both before the advisor says a word.

Explore more: Office & Workplace Design and our Financial Advisor Office Design guide.