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Sustainability is the name of the game at Irgens Partners LLC's Innovation Campus and its newest office development, Innovation One.
The 70,784-square-foot office building and accompanying green-roofed parking structure in Wauwatosa hold a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver-certification and is the first project in Wisconsin to be awarded certification under the Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES), administered by Green Business Certification Inc.
Innovation Campus Phase 1
Discovery Parkway, Wauwatosa
PROJECT CREDITS
- Owner/developer: Irgens Partners LLC
- General contractor: CG Schmidt
- Architect: Kahler Slater
- Engineer: New Eden Landscape Architecture
- Lead finance: Tri City National Bank
- Lead legal counsel: Michael Best & Friedrich LLP
- Completion: January 2023
- Project cost: N/A
The SITES certification underscores the 59-acre campus's dedication to the environment. The structures are situated next to County Grounds Park and the Monarch Conservancy, neighboring one of the largest remaining open spaces in the county.
That open space contains prairie and oak savanna ecosystems that are home to protected birds, monarch butterflies, owls and other wildlife, all of which had to be protected during construction.
The challenges also included addressing a brownfield and working throughout extensive stormwater bio retention basins, occupied commercial and residential facilities, active parking lots and narrow private roads. Work called for responsible extraction of raw materials, restoration of soils disturbed by prior development, and prefabricating key structural elements offsite to mitigate accessibility concerns and boost efficiency of the project.
The results, developers say, is a Class A facility that leverages the site's natural and geographical benefits in a manner that fosters innovation, creativity and excellence.