Northern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters Training Facility

Basic Training

Carpenters' facility focuses on materials

By Jennifer Pfaff

Two massive columns stand sentinel outside the Carpenters union training facility in Madison.

They offer an early introduction to the building’s central theme, which focuses on the materials that carpenters use and the creative ways they use them.

Those columns, flanking the entry to the Northern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters Training Facility, are wrapped with 24-inch-diameter logs that were trucked in from northern Wisconsin, said Jeremy Cortesio, project manager for general contractor KBS Construction Inc. of McFarland.

“Those didn’t come from the site,” he said. “If we had thought of it sooner, they probably would have.”

The 27,000-square-foot building contains office space, classrooms and a hands-on training area. Its design and construction sought to showcase the construction possibilities that carpenters can take advantage of while they remain sensitive to the environment, Cortesio said.

For example, the crews on the project recycled as much building material as possible, including the trees felled to make room for the training center.

“The owner had 25 to 30 trees, if not more, set aside,” Cortesio said. “We had to clear out some trees to make way for the building. He had some of the logs kiln-dried and sawed up for use as base and casing material on the building.

“We ended up trying to change some of the other wood in the building, for instance the doors, to match the trees we were getting from outside.”


	Project Name: Northern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters Training Facility Location: Madison Submitting Company: KBS Construction Inc., McFarland General Contractor: KBS Construction Inc. Architect: Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP, Milwaukee Engineers: Arnold & O'Sheridan Inc., Madison, structural, electrical, mechanical, HVAC, plumbing engineer; Schreiber/ Anderson Associates Inc., Madison, civil engineer Owner: Northern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters, Kaukauna Project Cost: $3 million Project Size: 27,000 square feet Start Date: December 2004 Completion Date: September 2005

But the log columns at the facility’s entry required a more time-consuming preparation.

“Usually, you are kiln-drying sawn lumber, but in the case of the entryway, they have to kiln-dry an entire log, so it only dries out so far into the log,” Cortesio said. “You have to let it sit for months so the rest of the log can dry, and you won’t get much checking.”

The project designers and the Carpenters union wanted to show the full range of materials — not just the woodwork — involved in the trade.

That presented some construction challenges, Cortesio said. The three separate areas of the building were each made from different material combinations.

The 25-foot-high shop, which offers enough space to build and tear down a house, is made of basic precast concrete with a steel structure and rubber membrane roof.

The classroom section is constructed partially from structural steel and partially from light-gauge steel stud frame with a metal seam roof.

In the office setting, glue-laminated beams were used for the columns and beam structure, and KBS switched to wood studs. A rubber membrane roof again was used.
Exterior materials also varied. Precast concrete panels, zinc metal wall panels and cedar siding all played a part.

“What that created, it was almost like building three separate buildings,” Cortesio said. “As you went from one section to the other, you would start over with trying to procure new materials and figuring out all of the connection details.

“When you start a certain structure, your efficiency comes several weeks in. Just as we were getting efficient with the structure, we were starting over again.”