Pabst Mansion Facility Condition Report

Historic Pabst Mansion
Historic Pabst Mansion

OBJECTIVE:

Preserving History

Completed in 1892, the mansion served initially as the Pabst family home. Now it serves as a historical monument and legacy of Milwaukee’s brewing industry.

With a backlog of deferred maintenance issues and much needed capital improvements, the Pabst Mansion Board of Directors first approved a full building condition assessment of the facility. This assessment included the full exterior envelope, specific known structural conditions, and a review of a historic elevator and the plumbing, mechanical, and electrical systems. The building was also evaluated for code issues and ADA requirements.

Strang’s challenge was to properly preserve the building so future generations could experience this slice of local history. The goal of the space was to use the mansion for education, tourism, and study–to tell the story of Milwaukee’s past by showcasing the ornate rooms, furnishings, and artwork of a 127-year-old building. Strang’s facility assessment identified the work needed so the mansion could be available for the next generation of students, art scholars, tourists, and anyone else interested in history.

SOLUTION:

Extensive Assessment

The 20,000-SF building has had multiple restorations including upgrading windows, restoring bedrooms, purchasing original furniture from the Archdiocese, and bringing back original artwork from the Pabst family. Strang’s thorough evaluation showed that the Pabst Mansion required extensive attention to the integrity of its exterior envelope, a portion of its structural system, and its various mechanical and electrical systems.

Ensuring that the ceiling doesn’t leak, heat and humidity are maintained, and weather does not compromise the integrity of the walls and windows were all critical elements to restoring and maintaining the structure and operation systems of the Pabst Mansion. With Strang’s assessment of the building envelope, structure, and systems, our team’s final recommendation addressed these problems while complying with standards for Historic Restoration.

Following our in-field assessments, Strang reported determinations of cause (where possible) and severity of observed conditions. We outlined recommendations to address these conditions and a preliminary opinion of costs was developed. This was incorporated into a recommended multi-year work plan that could then be refined and reorganized according to funding, operational/program development, and building conditions.

The Pabst Mansion now has a long-term plan in place for the future of the building, preserving this local historic gem for many more to enjoy.

Historic Pabst Mansion

This building is listed on the National Historic Register #75000073.

Hamel Music Center

Hamel music center
This project was designed in partnership with Steinberg Hart
Hamel music center

Awards

AIA Wisconsin Award of Merit

2022

PCI Design Awards

Best Theater Building

2022

PCI Design Awards

Theaters Honorable Mention

2021

LEED Certification

2020

ACEC National Honor Award

2020

Engineering-News-Record Midwest’s Best Cultural Project

2020

Objective:

Multifunctional and Flexible

The 63,300-SF Hamel Music Center on the UW-Madison campus was created to serve as an anchor of the East Campus Arts Gateway and as a showcase for the Mead-Witter School of Music. The Mead-Witter School of Music is ranked in the top 5 percent of public schools of music in the U.S. and has earned international stature. By engaging the public through over 350 performances and events each year—from symphony and chamber orchestras to soloists and choral performers—it’s true that (after sports) the music program serves as the main public face for the university.

“I’ve been nothing but pleased with Strang’s meticulous attention to the details and mission of our complicated performing arts project.”

Susan C. Cook, Director, UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music

SOLUTION:

Frozen in Time

The venue, created by Strang in conjunction with Steinberg Hart, includes a 315-seat recital hall, large rehearsal room, and spacious lobby. Designed to spotlight the breadth, power, and purpose of musical exploration, this new facility elevates the program to the highest levels of collegiate music education.

As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote, “Architecture is frozen music.” The folded, faceted forms of the precast panels evoke the imagery of flowing stage curtains frozen in time. In fact, one of the major themes of the building, is objects frozen in time. The interior scheme is inspired by Wisconsin’s landscapes: deep blues reflect our lakes while plum, gold, and maroon are the colors of our state tree, the sugar maple, in various stages of transformation. The Hamel Music Center is designed to evoke the musical experience as one experiences architecture through time. The exterior curtain wall façade of the main entrance invites the public to “enter the sheet music”.

Acoustic Concerns

The scheme for the building required unique approaches to acoustical challenges. Rather than burying the performance venue in the core of the building, the Collins recital hall was placed prominently right at the busy intersection. Fully isolated double wall construction, which incorporates the iconic folded precast concrete panels, accommodates this placement with total acoustic isolation.

The main concert hall also features a unique approach to acoustics, although in a more subtle way. Flanking the hall, acoustical reverberation chambers allow the venue to sound much larger than its physical volume would suggest. These chambers, four stories tall made of solid concrete, also contain acoustical curtains, which allow them to be uniquely tuned. The space is totally customizable based on the particular needs of each performance. These reverberation chambers, while not directly visible from within the performance space, are represented by large circular penetrations in the shell of the side walls. These forms are representative of the sound holes that allow reverberation and projection of sound in many string instruments, like a guitar.

Hamel Music Center Interior

A Shift in Convention

Lastly, opposite from the recital hall, in full view of University Avenue, the main rehearsal space is prominently featured as an iconic element of the building. Featuring the rehearsal space so publicly is unconventional; generally, artists are only showcased during performances, while their preparation remains unseen. Here, the preparation is on full display, framed perfectly for view by the isolated double-curtain-wall construction at the sidewalk level for any passerby’s to see.

M3 Insurance

M3 Building
M3 headquarters

Objective:

Invest in Impact

M3 Insurance is a growing insurance service company with a long history of community outreach and employee satisfaction. M3 wanted its new headquarters to be highly visible, serve the broader community, and facilitate positive change for employees. Strang worked with both the developer and M3 to design an exterior to this facility that maximizes the developer’s investment while striving to meeting M3’s cultural vision.

M3’s corporate priority was to move their headquarters to a location that would have a positive neighborhood impact. It was essential that the building be easily accessible to users. The selected John Nolen Drive location offers a highly visible attention-grabbing design on a major gateway for Madison traffic. Even though the soil could not support a conventional foundation (thus adding to the project cost), M3 was determined to build where visibility would have a maximum impact.

“We initially had three objectives for our new space: providing a well workplace, shifting from “me” space to “we” space, and space as a reinforcement of our brand. This space has met all those objectives and more. Our employees are so proud of this space...The amenities and the flexibility of the space have exceeded our expectations. And the Madison space has been a foundational element of M3’s physical brand since we built this building.”

Thomas J. Golden, Executive Vice President,
Corporate Service, M3 Insurance Solutions, Inc.

SOLUTION:

Solid Site Design

This project’s site design is in response to its unique location. Strang took care to enhance views of and from the project in its context on Lake Monona. The tree-lined entrance drive is on axis with the building’s visitor entrance, creating a strong relationship to the public. Decorative 12’ light fixtures reinforce the rhythm of the trees, while providing light to the entrance driveway and pedestrian walkway. An outdoor patio with two grills and a fire pit, immediately adjacent to the “Work Café” provide an informal and relaxing space for occupants to gather.

This highly visible location at one of the most traveled entry drives to downtown Madison originally looked bare and unfinished. The site was overrun with weeds and had become a dumping area for garbage and construction fill. The M3 development cleaned up this site, extended clear views to Lake Monona, and provided new vigor and uses along the bicycle path that surrounds the lake. The facility’s state-of-the-art conference and training suite has also become a valuable asset to the Madison community. Many local non-profit agencies use it for special events.

 

Flexible Reuse and Function

To maximize the developer’s real estate investment, the building was designed with flexibility in mind for future uses. The facility is designed as a multi-tenant building, with core areas for restrooms and vertical circulation, corridor zones, and MEP systems that support multiple tenants. Each floor plate is carefully designed to accommodate a variety of options of leasable tenant suite configurations.

M3 regularly brings clients to the facility for training and special programs. M3 therefore wanted to build a conference and training suite that could be shared with local agencies that need room to host special meetings. By designing flexible meeting spaces with access to the main entry, sweeping lake views, catering setup and toilet facilities, the building can serve a broader function, even after business hours.

M3 headquarters at night