OBJECTIVE:
Room to Grow
Vortex Optics manufactures optical equipment for hunting, bird watching, wildlife watching, outdoor recreational sports, and law enforcement. Their products include binoculars, spotting scopes, rifle scopes, and other optic accessories.
Strang worked directly with Hoff Construction and Vortex Optics on the addition to Vortex Optic’s shooting range located in their Barneveld, Wisconsin headquarters. When Vortex outgrew its previous headquarters in Middleton, they relocated to Barneveld which offered plenty of room for future expansion.
This project provided a particular opportunity to take advantage of this available space and add more functional shooting range space and new support spaces to their facility. The original indoor shooting range was home to a 14-lane, 50-yard indoor range, and a 100-yard indoor range with seven shooting lanes. The addition serves to create an even more expansive experience for Vortex to test, train, and sell their products.
SOLUTION:
Strategic Expansion
Vortex’s 23,000 SF addition now houses two new indoor shooting ranges, a shoot house, a simulator room, offices, a conference room, and retail spaces. The new addition includes a 25-yard, 12-lane indoor range, and another with four lanes. It also features a 2,400 SF shoot house that will allow law enforcement to complete more tactical training.
Acoustical consideration was an essential factor in this project as it was important to reduce noise levels heard from the shooting ranges to the adjacent spaces.
Tilt-up concrete wall panels were used for the exterior of the building. The south side of the facility overlooks the Nature Conservancy’s nearly 1,000-acre Barneveld Prairie—an area that provides an optimal testing ground for spotting scopes, binoculars, range finders, and other Vortex products.
Strang also designed Vortex Optic’s original 33,000 SF building in 2016. Our continued design efforts on this campus are helping them to grow strategically with the future in mind.
