The Great Chair Fair of 2010

CHAIR FAIR STARTS THURSDAY

This Thursday, April 15 the entire SoHE population will get a chance to see and test proposed seating for the new SoHE building. The Chair Fair will take place in Sterling Hall, rooms B101 and B611. There will be guided sessions at 8 and 10 am, at 12 noon, and at 2 pm. You'll get to try chairs – classroom chairs, office chairs, lounge chairs, guest chairs, all types of seating - under consideration and fill out evaluation forms. Additionally, most of the chairs will remain on site until around April 26 for further viewing and testing.

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. For more information please contact Professor Roberto Rengel, rjrengel@wisc.edu

Some days it all comes down to support, comfort, cushion and cradle. Yes, it's all about the chair. Can I sit for hours at my desk without cramping? Does it make me look thin? Is there a swivel in case I am in a boring meeting and get antsy? Will it have wheels for quick room configuration? Is this an iconic piece and if so, why is it important for SoHE?

The project team has asked these questions and about a thousand more in preparation for the upcoming Chair Fair. Questions like "will the arms slide under the table...'cause I hate it when the arms bump" or "how easy is it to clean?" and about lumbar support. The team drilled manufacturers reps about the "green" story, and discussed how a certain piece may look in the historic part of the Dean's suite in the existing building.

And let's not forget the importance of excellent design. Each piece will be evaluated for its esthetics as well as function - how does it look by itself and in concert with other elements in the space.

But, the twin workhorses for the project are classroom chairs and office chairs. SoHE employs hundreds of people - faculty, administrators, staff, research assistants, preschool teachers -and that adds up to hundreds of chairs and lots of body types. The same goes for classroom and studio chairs - students come in all shapes and sizes so chairs must be forgiving.

Take a bit of time and attend the chair fair - your feedback is super important.

One Man's Trash...

As the old saying goes, "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and from the results of our relocation, I'd say it we've distributed the motherlode of treasure.

I've learned that preparing the building for construction has more layers than simply moving our contents. Once the departments, people and functions vacate the buildings then SWAP (Surplus With A Purpose) http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/swap/ comes through and identifies what they can move and possibly sell through their enterprise. The folks from campus Physical Plant swarm the building and harvest things that can be re-used in other campus locations, ranging from filters to locksets, water fountains to "slop" sinks. I'd wager the old SoHE building was the recipient of many a second-hand fixture.

But here's where it gets interesting - the next group that came through was Habitat for Humanity Restore. This group of mighty volunteers spent days and days combing through the building, harvesting items that would have been simply part of the interiors demo as it was not going to be used in the building project. Teams of people took apart and moved built-in casework, blackboards, the blue cabinets from the Textile Collection workroom, misc office chairs, file cabinets - right down to the last can of Who-Hash. All together, the Restore salvaged almost 8 tons of material.

Finally, a volunteer group of students worked with James Harrod from FP&M to do a final sweep of paper for recycling. This group picked up and salvaged an additional 2 tons of scrap paper

I am really proud of what we accomplished and the impact these groups had on reducing our "footprint." It's stunning what could have made its way into a landfill.

Jan. 4 Move Update

Building Project News
December 3, 2009

General Move:
Week of January 4, 2010


Address for Sterling Hall:
475 North Charter St
Madison, WI 53706-1507

Address for Administration Relocation Space (in the College of Engineering Building):
1513 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706-1572

Address for Print & Dye Studio/Instructional Space:
445 Henry Mall, suite 302/306
Madison, WI 53706

Configuring your space
This may be old news (because our students have been working like demons to develop the furniture plans for every space at Sterling Hall) but we are coming into the home stretch for confirming space plans. Department chairs have received layouts for faculty offices and will be distributing those as quickly as possible. The plans will show furniture in each office and workstation. You will need to decide which other pieces of your current furniture (file cabinets, bookcases, etc.) you would like moved – provided it fits. Please remember that all pieces need to be labeled. Some offices will accommodate up to 4 verticals file cabinets and may have room for one, in some cases two bookcases.

For those moving to Mechanical Engineering, space plans and assignments are under development by the Dean – we are doing our best to have those plans distributed as quickly as possible.

Phone/Fax Access
On January 4, 2010 AT&T and DoIT will shut off the phones at 1300 Linden Drive - however voice mail will be active and available. Starting January 5-6, we anticipate phones will be online in the new locations, baring any unforeseen emergencies.

This might be an excellent time to consider adding EVM to your computer! Please contact John Hilgers, director of academic technology jhilgers@wisc.edu or 265-0534 to learn more about this feature.

Phase Two – Move Dates Accelerated for Instructional Spaces
Due to extraordinary efforts from campus and our colleagues at the College of Letters and Science, SoHE will be able to move instructional spaces into Sterling Hall sooner than projected:

Accelerated Move for Instructional Spaces
• DS instructional spaces – MOVING DECEMBER 22/23, and December 28/29
o Note: Print & Dye Lab will be located at 445 N Henry Mall
o Note: Textile Color Lab will move January 4 (Physics currently has this space until the end of December)
• Computer Lab – MOVING DECEMBER 22/23 or December 28/29
• Room 108 – MOVING DECEMBER 22/23 or December 28/29

At this stage we anticipate the January 4 relocation to Sterling will take up to (3) business days, and ask that staff not be in the SoHE building during the actual move. Please contact your supervisor to address any schedule questions. The elevator and stairwells will be used exclusively for relocation, making them unusable for anyone else. Please do not plan to have your car here moving personal items, as the driveway will be blocked with trucks starting at 6:00 a.m. each day.

Phase Two Reminders:
• Please empty your desk (but not until you actually move!)
• If you need extra hands to help you pack, please contact Jonie Bonfield at 262-0017 or via email jbonfield@wisc.edu – Jonie will dispatch students as they are available.
• If a lease, contract or warranty covers any equipment (i.e. department copier) you may have, contact that company as they may be responsible for moving the equipment


File Cabinets
VERTICAL FILE CABINETS can be moved full, they do not have to be emptied. Please be sure the bottom drawers are full – empty drawers may cause a mishap. If the cabinet has a lock, please wrap tape around the lock to be sure it does not accidentally get pushed in/ locked. Tape the key to the top of the file cabinet – you would be surprised at the number of people who end up locking the key inside the file cabinet.

LATERAL FILES must be emptied – they will not be moved unless empty.


General Packing Guidelines
• EVERYTHING GOING TO STERLING USE PURPLE LABELS
• EVERYTHING GOING TO MECHANICAL ENGINEERING USE ORANGE LABELS
• ANYTHING GOING TO MIDDLETON WILL USE GREEN LABELS
• ANYTHING GOING TO HLATC LEASE SPACE WILL USE GRAY LABELS
• ANYTHING GOING TO 445 HENRY MALL WILL USE BLUE LABELS
• ANYTHING GOING TO OFFSITE STORAGE LABEL COLOR RED LABELS

The move experts on the SoHE team have analyzed the spaces at Sterling and Mechanical Engineering, and based on their best advice please use the following as your guideline for managing materials:

• Crates and labels will be delivered to your office or area on December 7. You need to use these to pack anything going to your building. Everything must have a label! Remember: No label = No move = No exceptions
• Once you have packed a crate it must close – seriously, it must close
• Each packing crate holds about one file drawer of material, this is especially important for those moving into an open workplan
• If you would like your desk chair to move with you, label it
• All desks, credenzas, bookcases, storage cabinets must be emptied regardless of whether or not it is moving with you
• If a lease, contract or warranty covers any equipment (i.e. department copier) you may have, contact that company as they may be responsible for moving the equipment
• You MUST BE DONE PACKING OFFICES by the end of the day Tuesday, December 29 – no exceptions
• For your planning purposes, office crates must be emptied by Friday, January 15 and instructional space crates, computer carts, bookcarts, etc. unpacked by January 21, 2010 – the movers will be on site both days to collect this equipment


Security and Access
Please note that Sterling and Mechanical Engineering both use a card access system to enter the buildings after hours. This means your WISCARD must be up to date – if you got your card BEFORE July 1, 2008 we will not be able to enter you in the system.

Addition information regarding key distribution will be coming in the next week – in the mean time, now is a good time to locate all the SoHE keys you have and be ready to turn them in to Jonie.

What is considered a “personal item” that won’t be moved?
• Small refrigerators, microwaves, coffee pots
• Plants
• Furniture or items you bought with your own money


New Building: Fun Facts

• Carpet design, drapery design and tile patterns are being considered as possible areas for student competition. Look for more information in the spring!

• The new building landscape plan includes more than 150 different plant species



For more information log onto the Human Ecology website and click the “Movin’ On Up” logo.

Final Review Plans

On October 5 the architects delivered the Final Review set of plans to SoHE. The set includes two volumes of actual drawings, seen to the right, rolled up like super heavy carpets. The plans detail every aspect of the project, from electric to HVAC to lighting plans to you name it, the detail has to be drawn. Each of the two volumes is accompanied by a giant book of specifications, and a product binder. The spec books seen below, are easily 3 inches thick and contain the written information backing up every detail drawing. The product binder, another behemoth, is home to the images for everything in the building - things you'd never think of like door closers, hardware, locks, electric switches, plumbing parts - all the really sexy things in a new building.

So, how is it I am smiling? Oh, don't worry, it's just pure shock. That after more than two years I can see the finish line for the planning stage. From August 2007 until October 2009 everything has been talking, wrestling, dreaming, arguing, imagining and drawing, erasing and starting again. Now it feels more real than ever before to be actually holding the plans in my hands.

Let's just stop on that image - me, holding the plans in my hands.

Top 9 Reasons for Creating a New Building

9. We won't have to fix the leaking faucet in the HDFS bathroom.

8. Building an entirely new building will be cheaper than fixing the noisy ventilation in our meeting rooms.

7. It's the only way to get more parking spaces.

6. I'm hoping for a faculty meeting room in which the eyes in that painting don't follow me around the room.

5. Jonie Bonfield and Michael Jacobs will be the envy of the university in our new Frank Hooper Memorial Smoking Lounge.

4. There's no place in the current building for Roberto's band to play.

3. It's the only way to get some faculty to clean their offices.

2. Some faculty have been around the lead paint in the old building so long that their drop in IQ has become embarrassing.

1. 3 words to describe ribbon cutting day in 2011: Party! Party! Party!

--Contributed by Dave Riley

Safety and Security

Last week the design team sat down with campus police, project team members and security experts to talk about access for the building. We have now officially entered into the detail phase of the project and oh my goodness, was this ever detail. No color drawings to review, no furniture to dream about, no landscape plans to ponder - this 4-hour meeting was a door by door discussion with campus police, Physical Plant, security consultants and project consultants.

We discussed card access versus keys, the merits of close circuit monitors against security cameras, what kind of security system should the textile collection storage have, how the preschool parents enter the building, if a stairway door should be locked from the inside or outside, and so much more.

Now that the semester has started I hear the parade of students getting their keys from Jonie. Every fall she cheerfully assigns more than 100 keys to incoming freshman, grad students and new lecturers. Hang in there Jonie, in a few short years we will be on a card access system!

Phase One Complete!

Thanks to Linda Zwicker, Jonie Bonfield and everyone else who contributed to the successful completion of Phase One of the School’s relocation! The Departments of Consumer Science and Human Development and Family Studies, as well as UW-Extension offices and Covering Kids and Families can now be found at the Middleton Library, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Back from the Windy City, a trip to the Merchandise Mart to look at furniture ideas for the building project. My feet still hurt and I won’t look at a chair the same way again.

For anyone who has never been to the Mart, close your eyes and imagine…the world’s largest commercial building, 25 stories high, about 4.2 million gross square feet over 2 city blocks. Go ahead, admit it, you are exhausted even thinking about it.

The design team (Dorschner/Sasaki) scheduled 17 showroom visits starting at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday and the last one was 12:15 p.m. on Friday. Headed down from Madison were Dean Douthitt, Professor Roberto Rengel, Angela Pakes Ahlman from UW-Madison’s FP&M office and me.

After grabbing coffee on the first floor we headed up to the first appointment – I was struck by the fact the building was vacant. Because the showrooms are all open by appointment there is no hallway traffic. Imagine 4.2 million gross square feet mostly empty – like a Hollywood movie where aliens have taken all the people away and all we are left with are the most extraordinarily appointed rooms with the most exquisite furniture.

The spaces are designed with the most wonderful lighting and elements to showcase everything “just so.”

But picture this – one place had every single chair and sofa upholstered in creamy white leather, some trimmed in dark wood – no other color, just supple leather. Nothing is more seductive than sinking into a butter soft chair that cradles and supports in just the right places, yummy. Another place had every piece of furniture done in the same rich steel gray felted wool. One showroom had every piece of office system furniture in white – these folks are good.

The other thing that blew me away was the high level of hospitality exhibited by the vendors we visited. At every appointment we were immediately and warmly greeted, offered a range of beverages and snacks including trail mix, chocolates, gummy bears, mints, nuts and the most extraordinary caramel corn. Each vendor had some kind of fabulous bag for us filled with literature, more water and snacks.

But enough about the meetings, let’s talk about the furniture!

The design team had identified 61 different seating options for us to try – we tried chairs for the reading room, stools for the café, office guest chairs, reception chairs for the Centers, chairs for faculty/staff offices, chairs for conference rooms, chairs for student areas, chairs for niche study spaces, options for the outside green roof, seating for the Gallery, classroom seating and even wonderful “snuggle” chairs for the preschool. We discussed things like the “green” story for the manufacturer and asked lots of questions: Do the café stools come with a foot rest? How high will the classroom chairs stack? Does that chair come with wheels and how much noise would it make sliding on a hard surface? Is the chair adjustable, can the piece be outside in all weather, what’s the warranty, color choices, wood options, does it swivel - you name it, we tested it.

Flexibility is a key value for the project, and boy did we see innovative solutions. Demountable wall systems with solid acoustic privacy, glass or opaque walls that can be reconfigured in a matter of a few hours; workstations where the tabletops raise or lower with pneumatics, slick technology integration and LED lighting solutions.

No more white boards! Everywhere we looked glass was the order of the day. Tabletops and wall panels with back painted glass that function with markers or paint and can be cleaned with Windex – dream of a world with no more ghosts on writing surfaces.

Here we are, just days away from Phase One of relocation and scrambling to find metal bookcases for offices and a decent conference table for the collaboration space. Imagine the day when we get to move in and everything is new, it’s clean — and oh my, it matches!

Dean Douthitt Joins the Big Purge