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Manpower World Headquarters
Award of Merit: Commercial
The four-story, 298,200-sq-ft Manpower World Inc. headquarters in Milwaukee will house offices for more than 1,000 employees.
The site for the $78 million facility is supported by precast concrete panels with inlaid brick, 129 caissons or piles, more than 2,000 tons of structural steel and 6,000 cu yds of concrete.
The building is enclosed by a combination of 31,801 sq ft of precast, 9,426 sq ft of wood panels and 45,259 sq ft of glass.
The building’s masonry design takes its cue from industry. The building is heavily punctuated by windows set deep into the masonry skin. A glass-and-aluminum curtain wall is carved deeply into the river facade—opening the core of the building to the city and connecting the riverwalk to the building’s plaza. Wood resin panels provide a warm counterpoint o the glass facade along with subtle articulation along the north and west facade.
The project’s primary objective was to create a global headquarters for Manpower, a Fortune 500 company.
The firm’s presence will help attract additional development and bring a boost to the downtown area. To promote a community environment, the building opens onto the Milwaukee River and features a public plaza.
A Former Brownfield
The 2.74-acre site along a river bend was previously home to North Commerce Street, the Commerce Street Power Plant, a warehouse for Pabst Brewery and a former rail yard. A portion of the area was a brownfield site.
Obstacles included multiple agency approvals, fuel storage tanks, existing foundations, a coal storage field, existing riverwalk infrastructure and other issues.
As part of the development agreement, the adjacent North Power House is to be restored and reused as office and retail space.
The building is intended to be LEED Gold certified, and several sustainable elements were incorporated into the building.
These include daylight and views for more than 90% of the spaces inside, water-efficient plumbing fixtures that result in 41% water-use reduction; and the use of low volatile organic compounds to improve indoor air quality.
Jury Comments: “This involved a lot of groups working together. It turned out to be a fairly good project. Based on the issues on the river, it’s not a bad looking building. Plus, it’s LEED certified.”
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