With over 20 UW-Platteville graduates on our staff, plenty of Kraemer Brothers’ employees offered to build a 59,600 square foot addition to the University’s Willliams Fieldhouse. The project included a new gymnasium with three basketball/volleyball courts, an elevated 3-lane running track, an addition to the weight room, a stretching studio, outdoor sports equipment center, an athletic training suite and locker rooms, and new outdoor track restrooms. A necessity for UW-Platteville, the elevated running track prevents cross-traffic of students using the basketball/volleyball courts and students using the track. For natural lighting, large vertical windows stretch the entire height of the gym. During the phased construction, Kraemer Brothers provided plans to the university while also constructing temporary enclosures ensuring student and faculty safety.

The project also included an outdoor multi-sport artificial turf field and storage building. This athletic field will be utilized by the university for intermural sports, soccer games, practices, and other activities, eliminating the need to use the Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium. Being a proud supporter of UW-Platteville, Kraemer Brothers provided tours to students in Construction Management courses, offering a first-hand experience. The principal construction challenges were poor soil composition, the need for extensive rock excavation and working on a busy college campus while classes were in session. The finished building and athletic field are a big win for Platteville.

Since our first projects for the UW system in 1968 and 1969 (the UW-Richland Campus and the UW-Whitewater School of Fine Arts Building, respectively), Kraemer Brothers has been an integral construction partner for University of Wisconsin Collegiate System. This contemporary new science building Kraemer Brothers constructed for UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County is nestled in the campus hillside to preserve the breath-taking view of the Baraboo Hills, as well as to achieve sustainable energy goals.  Consisting of 14,000 square feet of new construction and 10,000 square feet of renovation, this project houses five new research and teaching labs, classrooms, faculty offices, student collaboration spaces, and private research labs. Utilizing a geothermal HVAC system, the new addition also has a unique grass-covered roof that doubles as a platform for outdoor concerts and plays. Because the new facility connects to other buildings on campus, we worked closely with the administration to minimize impact on the students and faculty during construction. We also saved the university over $250,000 in construction costs by recommending alterations to the building plans with no reduction in quality.

In order to meet the needs of a growing enrollment, the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire needed to expand its student life facilities. At approximately 170,000 square feet, the W.R. Davies Student Center features retail dining services, meeting and event spaces, a campus bookstore, retail venues, student organizations, variety of student lounge spaces, administrative offices, and storage.

The design dedicated nearly the entire first floor of the building to food service and retail, including the servery, kitchen, dining space and the campus bookstore. The second level features the upstairs portion of the bookstore while it is primarily dedicated to the “campus living room” and student-centered spaces such as student organizations, non-traditional lounges, media lounges, and outdoor terraces.  Functioning primarily as a conference center, the third floor houses an 8,000 square foot ballroom, a 4,000 square foot ballroom, state of the art multi-purpose purpose space, Alumni room, and a variety of meeting rooms.  The fourth floor is dedicated to building systems and storage.

The building is rendered in natural materials such as masonry and local stone with metal roofing and fascia. Inside, wood paneling is used throughout the building from rustic reclaimed wood boards to finished bamboo panels. Natural stone fire places are located throughout major public spaces anchoring these spaces with a gathering focal point.  A green roof was incorporated into the design for both sustainability and to blur the line between the natural and built environments.