News

Jun 11, 2023

Marquette business college among Wisconsin Architectural Award winners

Marquette University's new College of Business building, a renovated Whitefish Bay jewelry shop and two Milwaukee-area homes are among 10 projects being honored in an annual statewide design awards

Marquette University's new College of Business building, a renovated Whitefish Bay jewelry shop and two Milwaukee-area homes are among 10 projects being honored in an annual statewide design awards program.

The American Institute of Architects Wisconsin bestowed honor awards, the Wisconsin Architectural Awards program's highest recognition, on three projects designed by its members. Those recognize overall excellence.

Another seven projects received merit awards for distinction in a focused area.

AIA Wisconsin received 64 entries for this year's program, which was open to projects completed by the end of 2022. The awards were decided by a jury of three internationally recognized architects based outside Wisconsin.

The honor awards recognized:

O'Brien Hall is Marquette University’s new College of Business building.

"Inclusive design strategies focus on providing generous space, enhanced wayfinding and clear paths, visual transparency and clarity of programmatic spatial organization, quality lighting and daylight, and reduction in sensory noise," the nomination said.

"The building is organized as a series of four adjoining modules with identical footprints, allowing for either two large or four standard vacation rental spaces, depending on the configuration. The project initially encountered skepticism by financial lenders who doubted that a contemporary vacation rental property could succeed in a market dominated by aesthetically conservative or historicist accommodations.

"However, since its completion, the lodge has seen a 95% occupancy rate, far exceeding its local competitors and attracting a large share of out-of-state guests."

The center "showcases the positive possibilities of renovation. Early on due to sustainability and cost concerns, it was determined that 95% of the existing building should be maintained and renovated. A new addition houses the main entry, providing the experience of a completely new facility while also maximizing the cost-saving and sustainability impacts of re-using the existing building."

"Material selection was also driven by sustainability criteria, including distance traveled. For example, the stone on the exterior, which forms the recessed entry, was from a quarry that was only 17 miles away from the site."

The merit awards recognized:

The second-story addition to an existing 1900s building "exemplifies how small-scale projects can have an outsized impact on their urban contexts."

"Situated along a typical American main street, the rooftop project creates an inviting place for social connection and commerce as a counterpoint to the prevalence of digital marketplaces and big-box retail. The new space includes a gathering area, prep kitchen, dining room, and bar to host a variety of neighborhood events, such as celebrations of local restauranteurs who are invited to introduce their menus."

The Gallery Shed home "was born from a life-long dream for a retired couple to ‘live’ amongst their extensive art collection within a sleek, gallery-like environment."

"The overall form and exterior took inspiration from the metal-clad utilitarian machine sheds that dot the surrounding rural landscape of the project’s Jackson, Wisconsin, location while allowing the use of budget-conscious materials. The home is placed just below the natural ridge of the site, which helps preserve the land's natural slope and complements the natural landscape, while also allowing for the continuation of farming."

"When a developer purchased and threaten to raze the historic 1921 Underwood Log Home constructed by a founding family of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, Galbraith Carnahan Architects saw an opportunity to restore the structure.

"The cabin itself was saved, along with thousands of pounds of salvaged wood, steel, light and plumbing fixtures that went into the rehabilitation. The cabin interior was stripped of all unnecessary modifications made over the past 100 years (acoustical tile, teal carpeting, wood paneling) and brought down to its purest essence. Much of the material utilized in the rehabilitation of the Underwood Log Home was salvaged from other buildings."

"Located in a long-vacant parcel in Sacramento’s Richmond Grove district, 9th & Broadway is an urban community of eight side-by-side duplex rowhouses that was designed to stitch together the rugged neighborhood fabric.

"In the 1960s, the construction of the interstate highway permanently severed the Richmond Grove district from the city’s older neighborhoods, leading to decades of disinvestment and neglect. More recently, Richmond Grove has been rediscovered as an affordable and demographically diverse community with easy access to downtown Sacramento. Some observers doubted the viability of the project, given the underlying challenges of the site and its surroundings; however, since the project was first announced, a dozen or so additional housing projects have gotten underway."

"An events lawn was brushed out of a long-dead orchard on the new north property, opening the school to bay shore highway visibility for the first time while maintaining all native hardwood trees. Two new colonnaded walkways defining the lawn were laid out, linking a series of new studio buildings that could be added over time. These colonnades and studios are positioned to allow a highway view to the original 1989 10-sided barn that acts as the main gallery and entrance for the art school.

"To the south by the existing building, a new Youth Wing and a new Digital Wing were planned as additions to form a south-facing courtyard with the 10-sided barn/gallery as its entry focal point. A 1989 eight-sided open air pavilion used for lunches and socialization became part of this new courtyard."

"Adjacent to the iconic Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, and directly connected to the existing Resch Center arena, the new 266,000-square-foot Resch Expo Center helps form the core of a two-mile entertainment corridor that connects the Packers’ Titletown development on the west with the Village of Ashwaubenon.

"A sweeping roofline creates three individual elevations, forming a grand entrance at the front of the building. The new building's main draw is an open exhibition space that is already attracting trade shows, sporting events and large meetings that had previously passed on the Green Bay area. The space can also be subdivided into three exhibit halls and is complemented by six breakout suites on the second floor."

WHEDA's new headquarters complements the surrounding context "and pays homage to this historical site, recalling the use of masonry while also incorporating modern steel and glass elements of today."

"The brick facades forming the first four levels of the project are a reinterpretation of an industrial punched window building. These details create depth, shadow, and asymmetrical tension within the brick facades. A contrasting secondary volume of brick and glass is pulled from the mass of the building base establishing the buildings entry while also breaking down the buildings scale."

AIA Wisconsin will celebrate the winners at its Design Awards Gala on Sept. 15 at Milwaukee's Mitchell Park Domes, 524 S. Layton Blvd. Tickets will go on sale on Aug. 7 at WisconsinDesignAwards.org

Tom Daykin can be emailed at [email protected] and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.