MILWAUKEE, WI — HGA has won two architecture awards for design excellence in the 2021 Design Awards program, sponsored by AIA Wisconsin. The firm won an Honor Award for the Milwaukee Ballet - Baumgartner Center for Dance in Milwaukee and an Honorable Mention for Trestle Park along the Milwaukee River downtown.

The Baumgartner Center for Dance houses rehearsal studios for the Milwaukee Ballet Dance Companies, education studios for the Milwaukee Ballet Academy, and studios for their school for young children. The building is located on a former vacant railway yard adjacent to the Historic Third Ward. A canopied entry welcomes visitors into a two-story atrium with a curving monumental stair that emphasizes a theatrical display of movement appropriate to dance. The interior features white-painted walls contrasting with black ceilings, steel frame elements, and black window frames and mullions.

Trestle Park, located on the east bank of the Milwaukee River in the Historic Third Ward, transforms a long-abandoned rail line into a new pedestrian deck, adapting existing historic industrial artifacts into new urban placemaking. The pedestrian deck protrudes 100 feet overlooking the river, a swing bridge, and other industrial buildings. To create the park, the design team abated creosote-treated railway ties to remove the toxic material and installed a new timber structure and Ipe wood deck on top of the historic black iron trestle.

“I’ve worked on a number of projects in different parts of the world, and have seen a spectrum of building types, scales, and design,” said Vivian Lee, FAIA, of the awards jury. “It was such a pleasure to see the array of wonderful projects in Wisconsin that were submitted this year. I’m extremely impressed at the caliber of design.”

The Design Awards program recognizes outstanding architecture, design, and urban projects by members of AIA Wisconsin, the state society of The American Institute of Architects. Each winning submission integrated AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence, which considers social and environmental design issues. Additionally, winners were evaluated for aesthetic excellence and how the building interacts with people and the natural environment.

The award jury included Vivian Lee, FAIA, Woods Bagot New York Studio; Aaron Thornton, AIA, Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects; and Shannon Gathings, Associate AIA, Duvall Decker Architects.