The Big Dig

I just looked at the live shot of the construction site (http://www.sohe.wisc.edu/) and the hole gets deeper by the day. It's really pretty cool to think in just a few months how much and how fast the work has been done.

The mass excavation started on May 3 and will take about 25-30 working days to complete. According to our campus project manager, Angela Pakes Ahlman, the contractor should be able fill about 12 trucks per hour, or about 120 per day. Yowza!

Because I am a visual learner (and my office sits in Mechanical Engineering, facing Camp Randall) I was curious...just how much dirt are we talking about?

Well, each truck will carry ~15 cubic yards (cy) of dirt.

So 15x120 = 1,800 cy/day x ~25 days = 45,000 cy dirt or ~1,215,000 cubic feet of solid dirt.

That’s not Camp Randall, it’s about 22.5% of the Kohl Center or roughly 303,750,000 hockey pucks!

Go Badgers!

I remember!

True confession time. Each morning on my drive in to work I think about the building blog and what's new, what might be interesting to a larger audience. Ideas range from how big the hole is we are digging for the addition to stories from the groundbreaking on April 30 to the next neighborhood meeting. There is a lot of activity - and yet by the time I pull in to the parking ramp the ideas evaporate.

But not today. Today I held on long enough to reach my desk and put virtual pen to paper.

First up: Results of the Chair Fair
I will be the first to say it, the chair fair was a success. The event was held from April 19-23 at Sterling and third floor of Middleton. The furniture at Sterling included chairs like the one to the left (Steelcase: Sidewalk) that are under consideration for Centers reception area, to chairs for the green roof (the black one to the right is Janus et Cie 'Forest') to classroom chairs. It makes such a huge difference to actually sit in a chair - and run my hands over the buttery smooth leather - as opposed to seeing it in a showroom or online. When we went to the Merchandise Mart last summer we were on such a rapid, tight schedule that it was sometimes difficult to fully appreciate a piece of furniture. But this way lots of people had the chance to weigh in on likes and dislikes. I adore the Janus chair and was really surprised at how accommodating and comfortable it was for my, shall we say, generous figure.

But let's step away from these gorgeous confections and talk about the real workhorses - desk chairs and classroom chairs. These need to take a beating, fit different body types and perform for long hours. The desk chairs under consideration spent time at Sterling and then over to third floor Middleton. Lots of people filled out evaluations for these chairs because we all know the value of a good desk chair.

Speaking of evaluations, the design team drew (4) winners of a $10 WISCARD from all the completed evals:

Mickey Moe (student)
Diana Zlatanovski (staff)
Erin Hamilton (student)
Maya Lea (staff)

Congratulations and thanks for participating!

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.