Location: Hastings, Nebraska
Client: Ridgeline CPAs
Year Completed: 2023
Years Originally Built: 1883, Bank interior 1919
Renovation Cost: $500,000
Size: 4,000 sf
Program: Commercial office space tenant improvement
Architect: Goodlife Architecture
Contractor: Cardinal Construction
Photography: Aaron Packard
When an entrepreneurial team of CPAs and Wealth Management professionals joined forces to create a new powerhouse financial services firm in Central Nebraska, one of the first orders of business was selecting a home for their new business. The spot would have to be convenient and welcoming for clients while also helping to attract and retain young talent. After studying a handful of potential sites with Goodlife’s help, Ridgeline CPAs’ leadership honed in on a former bank in a redeveloping corner of Hastings’ central business district.
Combining three bays of the building, each with its own unique character and backstory, Goodlife created neighborhoods of open, collaborative workspace. Historic features of the bank are kept in tact, but altered in ways to serve the new program. Two bank vaults were opened up and converted to cozy meeting rooms – a challenge considering that the builders had to literally break into a bank vault. Left-behind safety deposit box doors were salvaged and assembled into a feature wall. Wood mouldings and other details were painstakingly repaired and recreated throughout the former bank suite.
In the adjacent bay, antique painted plaster and wallpaper were retained and framed by new gypsum board furring walls. A nod to the group’s logo (inspired by the ridgelines of Western Nebraska’s Wildcat Hills), the framed moments almost resemble an abstracted horizon at sunset. At the northernmost bay of the site, a custom fabricated slatwall and logo sign serves as the backdrop to the reception area, contrasting against the exposed brick and refinished original wood floor of the 1883 suite.
The resulting office space strikes a balance between historic preservation, progressive funky energy, and professional appeal that reflects the Ridgeline culture.
