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Peer Review
Change orders
Holzhauer takes his talents to Madison
All it took was a Wisconsin winter day to send Steve Holzhauer back to the drawing board.
"After high school, I signed up for an apprenticeship program to be a carpenter," said Holzhauer, the managing principal of Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc.'s Madison office. "But in 1978, there was a line to get in to the program.
"So I started doing some nonunion carpentry work. And there was one day working in the snow where I just thought, 'I like building, but there has to be something better.'"
So Holzhauer headed to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to study architecture, eventually graduating with his master's degree in 1985.
"It made sense for me," he said. "I've built models since I was a kid. I used to do really detailed boats, planes and cars when I was younger, so doing this is just natural."
Holzhauer is now in his 11th year with Eppstein Uhen, but only his second in the company's Madison office, which opened in August 2005.
"I'd lived in Milwaukee for about 20 years, but the company was looking for one of its managing principals to take charge out here," he said. "At the time, I was going through a divorce, so I was uprooting a bit anyway, and it made perfect sense for me to take the opportunity."
Making the move, however, meant more than just arriving in Madison one August morning to start handing out orders. Holzhauer was put in charge of finding adequate office space in the city, designing the new offices and bringing in some new faces for the company.
| Steve
Holzhauer Age: 46 Home: Madison Family: Two sons, Derek and Nicholas First album ever purchased: "It was something by Three Dog Night. I can't remember the name. I think it had 'Joy to the World' on it, which is probably why I got it." Favorite thing to do out of the office: Ride a motorcycle. "My girlfriend and I rode to Montreal last year and saw all five Great Lakes along the way. It was 3,500 miles round-trip." Favorite book: "Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior" by Richard Marcinko Future goals: "I'd like to design a University of Wisconsin building, grow our Madison office and see the people in this office grow and become recognized around the city for helping make Madison better." |
"Three people came out from Milwaukee, and we brought in five new people, four of whom are still here," he said. "We're at 13 now, so we're growing at a good rate."
It helps when you can hit the ground running.
Eppstein Uhen already had some Madison projects in the pipeline when Holzhauer made the transition. And, on the first day the offices opened, he spoke to representatives from the Atwood Community Center in Madison about turning the former Kupfer factory into the center's new home. An agreement was reached, and the $9 million renovation is scheduled to open in 2008.
In addition to that, the company already has its name stamped on a number of other significant projects around Madison, including the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp. headquarters, Nolen Shore Condominiums and the $100 million Hilldale Shopping Center redevelopment.
"As cool as Milwaukee is right now, I think Madison is going to get there soon," Holzhauer said, pointing out a window to the array of tower cranes permeating the city's skyline. "It's a city that's kind of challenged by its growth. There's this dichotomy between it becoming a world-class city and retaining it's 'mom and pop' town feel, but Madison's going to take some big steps in the next 10 years.
"That's why we came here. There are some big investments to be made."