City of Waukesha

New City Hall

View through the work cafe into the atrium beyond.
Front head-on view of the new Waukesha City Hall.
View from atrium into conference rooms and offices above the open space.
The atrium entry in the City Hall with public seating, access to daylight, and easy wayfinding to the Council chambers.
Moveable chairs and spacious seating inside the court room chambers.
The work cafe with drop-in seating and a blue backsplash.
Overall view of the Waukesha City Hall work cafe.
Open office workstations and nearby desks for collaborative work.
Front corner view of the new Waukesha City Hall.

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