Case Study:
Great Lakes Offices, Hammel, Green and Abrahamson (HGA)

Down by the River

By Penny Bonda, Fasid

The water views are one of the perks enjoyed by the staff of HGA since moving to its new offices on the banks of the Milwaukee River. At the outset, however, it would have been somewhat clairvoyant to predict the positive influence of the waterfront on the design of the space and its level of “greenness.” Energy savings, thermal comfort, and lighting quality—and a LEED-CI Silver certification—are just some of what the building has gained from its location.

HGA moved from cramped headquarters, where its 125 employees were scattered over four floors, to its new 30,000-square-foot floor plate to facilitate open collaboration by bringing together all the firm’s disciplines: architecture, engineering, and interiors. The hunt for new space zeroed in on the Marine Terminal Building in Milwaukee’s Third Ward, the city’s renovated warehouse district and now its arts and design center.

The site’s attractions were irresistible. Originally constructed in 1918 as a warehouse for off-loading passenger and freight steamers, the Marine Terminal Building is located immediately south of downtown within an urban environment with access to public transportation. “Its facade literally drops right into the river,” says Jim Shields, HGA’s lead designer for the project. “We realized that in addition to the aesthetic advantage of the water, there were terrific daylighting potentials because of our 15-foot-high glass walls. Basically the water acts as a huge light shelf. We have a bright gleaming surface that illuminates our ceilings and gives us a pleasing reflection of the sky.” Jay Oleson, HGA’s electrical engineer, enthusiastically agrees. “Daylighting is the prime pleasure of this office. The dynamic rippling light pattern is just so cool.”

A quirk in the building’s design, determined by its history as a boat-to-truck unloading dock, made the installation of a raised floor and under-floor air distribution system not only an easy option but a relatively inexpensive one. The HGA offices occupy the first floor of the building, which is sloped four feet to match a sloping street outside so the whole floor would be loading-dock height. Rather than deal with a 400-foot-long incline, or bear the expense of pouring concrete to level it, a raised floor system was designed and used for air distribution, without additional cost. In fact, because the space is submetered and the firm pays its own energy bills, HGA has saved money. Air can be delivered through the floor grilles at a higher temperature than would have been required with a normal overhead system.

With more than 50 LEED-accredited design professionals on staff, HGA is committed to green design. The decision to go for LEED-CI certification had wide support. “We’ve experienced enormous interest from our clients in sustainability and it just made sense that we would do this for ourselves,” says Shields. “Plus, the building lends itself to it. It’s a concrete structure that will be 100 years old in 2018, and I can easily imagine that this is a 300-year frame. Why not recognize that value?”

Once the structure was stripped down to its concrete frame it was obvious that the continuous grid of columns, with their mushroom capitals, would establish a very poetic aesthetic and that few extraneous finishing materials would be needed. Money was spent, however, on strategies to increase the performance of the space. Daylight harvesting sensors keep lighting costs down and the suspended ceiling clouds were designed to provide exceptionally good acoustic control by absorbing sound bounced off the concrete. A 35 percent reduction in water use was achieved by installing water-free urinals, sensor control faucets equipped with low-flow aerators, and low-flow commodes.

The project did fail to earn one common LEED point for low-VOC-emitting paint. Although 95 percent of the surfaces received low-VOC paint, a subcontractor, unbeknownst to the rest of the team until it was too late, ignored specifications and used a high-VOC coating on the metal rails, door frames, shelving brackets, and electrical housings and covers. The probelm proved to HGA that even a tightly designed and managed project can still present surprising lessons.

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