City of Waukesha
New City Hall
Waukesha, Wis.
2023 Wisconsin Masonry Alliance Excellence in Natural Stone Award and Best of Show
2023 IIDA Wisconsin Celebrate in Design Award for Excellence in Service
2022 Real Estate Award, Best Government Building, Milwaukee Business Journal
The former City Hall was built in 1965 and was beginning to pose significant maintenance and operational concerns. By designing a new, multi-level facility and limiting surface parking on-site, BWBR and the City of Waukesha were able to keep the City Hall on the same campus while reducing the overall footprint. The new building is more secure, durable, and efficient, with all services located in one building to improve both the workplace experience and civic engagement.
The new City Hall more than doubles the amount of usable square footage, with a large portion of the building dedicated to group meeting and public spaces. The spacious Council chambers are located on the main floor for easy wayfinding, with optimized sight lines for all and enhanced audio-visual technology. The workplace design creates open work areas so that staff can collaborate with multiple departments and effortlessly connect with leadership. Equitable access to daylight and warm, welcoming finishes combine to create a timeless yet modern design that celebrates the character and history of Waukesha.
An enclosed pedestrian bridge crosses North Street to connect to an existing municipal parking ramp, which provides abundant parking for staff and visitors to City Hall.
Size: 63,000 gross sq. ft.
Components: New facility built on the same site as the former building; houses multiple departments; Council chambers with TV broadcast service; municipal court; emergency operations center; data center; public service counter; skywalk connection to an existing parking garage
Completion: 2021
Tom Hanley (retired)
Jennifer Stukenberg
Craig Peterson
Marivel Ansera
Allison Christoffels
Rick Gabriel
Pete Haag
Roger “Lars” Larson
Devin Little
Lisa Miller
Inga Oelschlager (retired)
Kate Poland
Rachael Spires
Dan Sterner
Richard Stuerman