Building The Future Together

JOHNSON CONTROLS, INC. INNOVATION CENTER

Historical Restoration / Adaptive Reuse

Johnson Controls, Inc. Innovation Center is located at 310 North Broadway in the Historic Third Ward of Downtown Milwaukee.  Hunzinger Construction Company was selected to serve as the general contractor for this project designed by Pace Architects.  This renovation project was a fast-track delivery, completed in an 8-week timeframe and is on an upper floor of an historic Commission Row building is the district that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Johnson Controls Innovation Center is an office suite that serves as collaborative knowledge, research, planning, and innovation space for the corporation.  The space features a neo-industrial design palette with exposed mechanical systems, pendent/suspended lighting, cream city brick, timber ceilings, beams and columns and stainless steel ductwork.  The HVAC system utilized on this project is also one of the first applications of an emerging technology for the Milwaukee market known as Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF).  A majority of the office space is used for group assignments, so a focus on state of the art conferencing technologies and flexible room arrangements were of the upmost importance to the client and user groups.  The end result is a stunning environment that successfully merges a technologically advanced business program within a fully modernized old-world/historic structure.

This project was particularly interesting because the entire space centers around spurring creativity and exploring new ideas so that put some pressure on the architects to design a space that fosters creativity within the confines of an historic building.  The key to this project’s success is that is preserves historical elements while integrating cutting edge technology.  The space presents an exciting paradigm shift from the traditional corporate design palate.

Kevin Johnson

Senior Project Manager, Hunzinger Construction Company

BUILDING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

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