Daily Reporter Showcases Prairie

Project Name:  Prairie School Field House

General Contractor:  Bukacek Construction

Architect:  Taliesin Architects and Zimmerman Design Group

Location:  Wind Point, Wisconsin

   Excavation on the Prairie School Field House started in February 2004, but for Peter Jundt, Bukacek's Project Manager, it seems like an age ago.
    "This project took most of my natural life," he said with a laugh.
   But for however long the days on the project may have seemed, Jundt is more than pleased with the result.  "It's a very unique and bold design," he said.
   BCI's mission was to build eight new tennis courts and a 68,700 square-foot addition to the Prairie School's existing field house.  The double-barrel-roofed building features an elevated, four-lane running track, basketball courts, a work-out room, locker rooms, staff offices and a multipurpose room.
   The project's main challenge was maintaining the complex geometry of the field house's structural systems.  "There were almost no straight lines to work with," Jundt said.  "We were dealing with radii, and this level of complexity had not been seen by anyone on the design/construction team before.  We had to go through a number of mockups to make sure we got things right."
    But Jim Cairns, co-president of Bukacek, said that the company cooperated with the engineers and subcontractors to achieve their common vision.  "Everybody was focused, and everybody worked together," he said.  "We had addressed all potential problems and conflicts beforehand, so the whole thing came together very nicely."
   Both Jundt and Cairns named a number of elements that make the buiding attractive:  the glass atrium that provides plenty of natural light for the gym, the locker rooms that even opponents enjoy suiting up in, the new fitness center and dance studio and the gym's domed ceiling were just a few listed.  All these elements contribute to what the men call the "wow" factor of the facility.  "It's nice to see the people walk in for the first time and say, "Wow," becauise that's really what we were aiming for," Jundt said.
    And it also looks great from above.  Cairns was able to spot the building along the lakeshore on a recent flight into Milwaukee and noted its prominence, even from a few thousand feet above.  "From the air, it's a very exciting looking building witht he copper roofs and all the unique materials," he said.  "It's really a nice landmark,"