IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 35
"The Global Water Center was developed to attract
and develop new businesses in the water industry,"
says Aaron Ebent, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, an architect
at Kahler Slater. "Strategically designed amenities
like collaboration zones, flex spaces, shared labs
and a public café were critical components. These
spaces provide opportunities for researchers,
companies and visitors to socialize, innovate
and create."
The Center's piece-de-resistance is a state-of-the-art
flow lab, which houses a $500,000 test flow stand,
a water management training stand and a selfcontained mini-water-treatment system. Kahler
Slater placed the public café immediately adjacent
to the glass walls of the lab, creating a place where
the building's entrepreneurs, researchers and
executives can meet, grab coffee and discuss
opportunities for collaboration and partnership
while overlooking the work happening in the
world-class facility.
But in addition to fostering interaction amongst
existing experts, the hope is that the building will
draw new companies to the field and to the city. The
center also houses a rotating cast of young startups
funded through an accelerator creatively called
the BREW (Business, Research, Entrepreneurship,
in Wisconsin). To address their specific needs, the
building incorporates flexible spaces and shared
elements, like a state-of-the-art 20-person
boardroom available to all tenants. And for an
extra dose of inspiration, Kahler Slater's design
plays with materials and themes related to the
Center's function: industrial touches like massive
steel and wood beams are found throughout and
an accent wall is sculpted to look like rippling
liquid. Finally, true to the mission of its inhabitants,
the seven-story, LEED Silver building also has a
"purple piping" system that separates wastewater
for greywater recycling onsite.
A little more than a year after it's opening, the
project seems to be a success, with the GWC being
seen as a catalyst for further redevelopment. The
city recently approved $7 million in tax benefits
and infrastructure improvements to attract water
tech businesses to the 17-acre area known as
the Reed Street Yards. Earlier this fall, The Water
Council was designated a Regional Innovation
Cluster by the U.S. Small Business Administration,
and awarded a $500,000 grant to create a Center
of Excellence for Freshwater Innovation and Small
Business Development located in the GWC.
Governor Walker said the award "further solidifies
the state as a launch pad for small water
technology businesses."
Looking west from the lobby of the GWC, the Water
Council's Director of Entrepreneurship and Talent
Elizabeth Thelen sweeps her hand over the Reed
Street area, the future home of The Global Water
Technology Park. Thelen seems to recognize that
while Milwaukee's current urban renewal is closely
tied to the quickly expanding tech community, it's
important the city not lose sight of the industrious,
research-focused startup culture that spurred the
movement in the first place.
"These businesses aren't going to come," she says,
"if we're not developing the talent here."
At left, The Global Water
Center's Flow Lab and
café is a central area for
cross-pollination among
building tenants. At right,
the "wave wall" located on
the Executive Suite Floor.
IMAGES COURTESY K AHLER SL ATER.
PERSPECTIVE
35
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014
Contents
Contributors
From IIDA
Behind the Issue
Viewpoints
Pop Goes the Marketplace
Beyond Programming
Startup Design
RFP: Decoded
The Power of Narrative
Inspiration
Colophon
Design Buzz
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Cover1
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Cover2
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 1
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 2
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Contributors
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - From IIDA
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Behind the Issue
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Viewpoints
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Pop Goes the Marketplace
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 11
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 12
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 13
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 14
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 15
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 16
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 17
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Beyond Programming
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 20
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 24
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 26
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Startup Design
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 30
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 32
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 34
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 36
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - RFP: Decoded
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 40
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 42
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - The Power of Narrative
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 46
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 48
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 50
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Inspiration
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Colophon
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 54
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - 55
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Design Buzz
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2014 - Cover4
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