New research tower honored by Midwest Construction magazine

The Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research (WIMR) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has been named the higher education research project of the year by Midwest Construction magazine.

The seven-story facility, part of a three-phase project, was opened in the fall of 2008.

WIMR’s goal is to break down traditional barriers to collaboration and synergism, speeding the search for treatments and cures for human disease. The first WIMR tower is largely devoted to cancer research and houses the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center. Two additional towers are planned.

“The design of WIMR laboratories, core facilities and offices promotes interactions among investigators, with the result that a range of disciplines and approaches is brought to bear on problems related to human health and disease,” says Richard Moss, senior associate dean at the School of Medicine and Public Health.

Dean Robert N. Golden agreed.

“Issues as complex as these have only slowly yielded to more traditional ways of doing research, but now, new organizational models for research within WIMR promise to accelerate the pace of discovery and translation of research results to improved patient care,” Golden says. “The School of Medicine and Public Health is very pleased with the facility and its favorable impact on our research mission.”

The Best of 2009 Awards were judged by an independent panel of six industry experts who ranked each project based on a number of criteria. Included were teamwork, project management, safety, innovation, construction quality and craftsmanship and the contribution to the community or industry.

The WIMR architect of record is the Zimmerman Design Group of Milwaukee; the design architect is Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, Inc. (HOK) of St. Louis. The Boldt Co. of Appleton, Wis., served as construction manager for the project.

The winners will be featured in the December issue of Midwest Construction and honored at an awards breakfast in Chicago. The regional winners will compete against other winner from around the country in the National Best of 2009 competition run by the Engineering News-Record, a weekly construction industry magazine.