Funk in da Hood

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle proclaims ““Bozeman’s funkiest neighborhood: Revitalization of NE neighborhood going strong”:”

The brick-and-mortar building on North Wallace Avenue that houses Strategix ID Inc. once turned out bottles for the Lehrkind brewery. Strategix ID owners Bill and Bobbi Clem moved their product-design firm to the old factory about three years ago. It has many of the problems of an old building – no insulation, a few leaks – but it was the only place they could find in the city where workers could mix the spotless sterility of office work with down-and-dirty product development in the same space.

“We like to have an open team environment, and there are very, very few spaces that have the amenities we need,” Bobbi Clem said.

Designed by Comma-Q Architecture — the firm that is restoring Story Mansion — the building looks like it stood for decades with its corrugated metal walls and brick front, but it only went up last June. Brown said she wanted to honor the history and “funkiness” of the neighborhood in the building’s design. She could have built somewhere else, but the neighborhood’s unusual mix of industry and residential characteristics was too much of a draw.