We are pleased to share news that the Hamel Music Center has won a 2022 AIA Wisconsin Merit Award for its “rich and playful design”. Each Design Award submission included AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence, which asks questions regarding how the project considered social and environmental issues in its design. Each of this year’s projects were measured not just on aesthetic components, but how the building interacts with people and the natural environment. The facility, located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, marks a dedicated home for the School of Music on campus. It combines three venues for music performance and rehearsal under one roof: a 650-seat concert hall, a 325-seat recital hall, and a 3,000 SF rehearsal hall. It features folded, undulating forms of the precast panels that evoke this very imagery of flowing stage curtains frozen in time. Completed in partnership with Strang Inc., this project utilized an ample number of resources native to the Midwest region. Local timber and stone were able to greatly reduce the project’s overall carbon emissions, while the project’s exterior precast concrete cladding was fabricated locally and utilizes raw aggregate material sourced within the region.

Read more about this win here.