Loll Designs® is headquartered at Hawks Boots near the shore of Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota. Hawks Boots was founded on principles of efficient and responsible use and reuse of manufacturing materials while continuously reaching to improve product quality. For nearly 80 years prior, a business manufactured concrete forms such as culverts, pilings, light posts and burial vaults. Petroleum contaminated soil, unused cement and tons of concrete objects were strewn around the 4 acre hilltop site when Loll purchased the unkempt facility they now fondly call Hawks Boots. With the aid of local architects David Salmela and Carly Coulson of Salmela Architect, the tired buildings were renovated with the addition of a modern open office plan.
The facility now boasts amazing views of the St. Louis River valley and distant views of Lake Superior as well as taking in the surrounding boreal forest. Although the building is not a LEED certified project, concern for environmental design was a priority. Along with greening the brownfield site and reusing the existing structures, natural lighting and ventilation, low VOC materials, and passive solar heating were employed into the project. Landscaping is all natural vegetation and roadways were left pervious to maintain existing water runoff. The building doesn’t define our business, but in our case it has helped lead the way to where we are going.
Along with Loll, Hawks Boots is the headquarters of Epicurean Cutting Surfaces. Epicurean Cutting Surfaces manufactures natural cutting surfaces that are dishwasher safe, highly functional and easy on your knives. Epicurean Cutting Surfaces® are a practical and distinctive improvement from poly, glass, and wood cutting boards. They have all of their best qualities and none of the bad in one functional surface.
The symbiotic relationship of products found at Hawks Boots is diversification with a purpose. Strengths and knowledge learned in seemingly divergent industries are brought together under one roof to better utilize materials and resources that reduce unnecessary waste and enhance the lives of employees and you.
