University of Wisconsin Mechanical Engineering Building
Award of Merit: Renovation/Restoration
The Mechanical Engineering Building at the University of Wisconsin was technologically behind the times and unable to effectively support modern education and research programs.
The main goal was to update and expand one of the oldest engineering buildings on the UW campus. It was originally built in 1931. Improving the facility will increase the mechanical and industrial engineering departments’ ability to draw the interest of superior faculty and graduate students.
The $44 million project encompassed a five-story addition for academic and research programs and the renovation of the existing building.
The renovation portion includes new electrical and data infrastructure used to support the modern research labs, classrooms and lecture halls. Students also have a common gathering space in the new atrium. A new central HVAC system has taken the place of the multiple substandard mechanical systems that previously served the facility.
Finally, the façade of the building was preserved with the addition of a new main entry.
Two-Phase Construction
Construction took place in two phases, with the first the demolition a 22,850-sq-ft “saw tooth” building from 1921 around which the MEB building was built. Other elements included the relocation of the reactor support labs and construction of the 57,400-sq-ft addition, which was built inside the courtyard of an old-three-story structure.
Construction of the addition took place while classrooms in the old structure were still being used for instruction.
Once construction of the addition was complete, the owner moved from the old section into the new, and phase two began with the demolition of the interior of the old building.
The shell of the old structure remained in tact while the construction team rebuilt and refurbished the interior, updating existing mechanical and electrical systems and modernizing the improving teaching facilities. A new roof was also placed.
The new addition houses three lectures halls and seven classrooms. One of the auditoriums will feature multimedia and will be capable of originating and receiving satellite video transmission.
The facility will also house faculty offices, computer-aided engineering labs, engine research labs and a renovated nuclear reactor lab.
The building will feature several student laboratories, including four new facilities with tools designed specifically for industrial and systems engineering students.
Classrooms and lectures halls are equipped with one or more LCD projects, an AMX component control system, laptop hookup, document camera and DVD/VHS payer.
Jury Comments: “The contractor had to work around an active nuclear reactor. The building has been upgraded for a century of teaching.”
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