Construction manager chosen for Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery

Findorff Mortenson, a joint venture of J.H. Findorff & Son of Madison and M.A. Mortenson of Minneapolis, will build the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the Morgridge Institute for Research on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus, officials announced today (Jan. 23).

Findorff Mortenson joins the design team of Uihlein Wilson and Ballinger, which was selected in September to design the new Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.

"Together, these exceptional design and construction teams will deliver a top-quality facility that will provide another powerful tool to continue our leadership well into the future," says UW–Madison Chancellor John D. Wiley.

The selection committee was comprised of representatives from the state, UW–Madison and Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).

The Findorff Mortenson team has a combined construction industry experience of more than 168 years and $3.1 billion in construction in the Madison market. J.H. Findorff and Son began work in Madison in 1890, working on the construction of the Armory and Gymnasium (formerly the Red Gym), and has a long history of work on campus, with more than 100 projects at UW–Madison, including the American Family Children’s Hospital and the Health Sciences Learning Center.

M.A. Mortenson began in 1954 and today has a national practice, being one of the nation’s top 50 firms, as compiled by the Engineering News Record. Recent Mortenson projects include the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Denver Art Museum and the $173 million University of Colorado-Denver Health Sciences Center.

The winning team demonstrated a superb understanding of the project’s scope and the donors’ vision, says Carl Gulbrandsen, WARF’s managing director and selection committee co-chair. The joint venture offers innovative methods intended to reduce waste in design and construction.

The team will incorporate the green approach in the building’s design, further supporting the desire to seek Leadership in Environment and Energy Design certification for the facility. If successful, it would be the first such building on campus.

The project includes the public Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the private Morgridge Institute for Discovery, made possible by a $50 million gift from John and Tashia Morgridge, matched by $50 million from WARF and $50 million from the state, providing a total of $150 million for the project.

The Morgridges’ gift is the largest ever to benefit the university.

The facility will help the university compete for the best and brightest faculty, and generate interdisciplinary research to spur new inventions, treatments, cures for disease and economic development for the region.

Construction is expected to begin by early 2008, with completion in 2010.