Located in the heart of downtown overlooking Wisconsin’s Capitol Dome, BWBR’s Madison office provides proximity to the ever-expanding markets statewide. Leading the talented, tight-knit team is Leigh Streit, who joined us for this episode of Side Notes to share insights into the Madison market, the opportunities shaping Wisconsin’s future, and the work driving meaningful impact across the region.
Leading a Lively Market
As principal and office leader for Madison, Leigh’s role is multi-faceted and critical to BWBR’s success in Wisconsin. “My role is split roughly evenly between business development and marketing for those projects that we’ve yet to start on,” he shares. “But also to help manage, problem solve, and support our team for those projects that we already have underway—and that means all the way through construction.”
Madison is dynamic and lively, bringing plenty of opportunities for new and exciting projects—and as Leigh shares, it’s a great place to live and work. “It’s a really great location when you when you think about nice weather, taking a lunchtime walk around the square, going out to meet people during or after work,” he says. “It’s a lot of energy down here in downtown Madison.”
Strong and Steady
Wisconsin continues to expand as a hub for education, science + tech, healthcare, and more, creating a growing need for new facilities, renovations, and support planning for the future. “We do a lot of work with the State of Wisconsin and have since our office opened here in late 2011, and we’re fortunate to be doing some nice projects for them right now,” Leigh says. “When you think about the private sector, healthcare, S&T, those are very healthy markets here.”
While many organizations have been facing uncertainties with rising costs, Leigh sees leaders and stakeholders remaining “cautiously optimistic” right now. “Interest rates keep dropping little by little,” he shares. While challenges still remain, BWBR’s teams can help navigate them, balancing the complexities of budget and schedule with an organization’s goals and needs.
Navigating Complexity with Purpose
One of the biggest challenges facing both clients and project teams today is managing increasingly complex project schedules. “We like to work on complex projects where there’s many, many facets to be considered,” Leigh says. “Understanding how all of those facets in a big or complicated project can affect the schedule is something that takes a lot of attention and of vigilance as things change.”
At the same time, evolving technology continues to shape how teams design and deliver projects. From new tools to emerging workflows, the key is staying focused on what truly adds value. As Leigh notes, success comes down to using the right tools to solve client problems—not simply adopting new technology for its own sake.
Projects Making an Impact
Among the many projects underway, Leigh highlights two education-focused efforts that showcase the breadth of BWBR’s work. First, the recently completed Science and Technology Innovation Center at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls is a perfect example of a large, complex facility creating hands-on learning and collaboration opportunities. “It is an almost 140,000 square feet science building that contains physics, psychology, chemistry, biology labs, classrooms, offices, and a university business collaboration center.”
In contrast, BWBR’s ongoing work with Madison College demonstrates how a series of smaller projects can create campus-wide transformation. “We’ve been working for them for the last five years on a number of small projects,” Leigh explains. “The thing that is interesting there is that those projects link together in a meaningful way to gradually turn over space on their campus here in Madison. And while small, they are impactful and they’re also really beautiful.”
Together, these projects reflect a broader theme across Wisconsin: steady growth, thoughtful investment, and a commitment to building environments that support learning, discovery, and community.
