BCI (formerly Bukacek Construction), Racine, WI, is the general contractor constructing a new $6-million credit union on Milwaukee's east side for Racine-based Educators Credit Union (ECU).
The new three-story, 11,000-square-foot building located along East Ivanhoe Place at Prospect Avenue will be ECU's 19th branch.
It will replace ECU's current walk-in office at Columbia Hospital.
The unique three-story Kahn- and Wright-inspired building will feature a green rooftop garden and a unique green-vine plant structure designed to absorb pollution and noise from the surrounding area.
The building is designed to be an "urban oasis" that presents a strong and dignified street face while providing glimpses to the green inner courtyard with a water feature and vertical "green-screen" vines, rooftop garden and interior lobby spaces.
Its design combines a layering of brick, concrete and aluminum on the outside, with wood detailing inside.
It was designed by Racine-based Genesis Architecture, which incorporated several sustainable elements into the building's design to achieve ECU's overall goal of giving the building's users a comfortable homey feeling as they are educated and advised about options for financial decisions.
The unique building is situated on a compact site and is designed to blend into the surrounding community.
The 326 precast concrete panels used for the building are being supplied and erected by Spancrete, Waukesha, WI.
The precast components include more than 131,000 square feet of Spancrete hollow-core plank and more than 21,000 square feet of wet-cast architectural panels. All were produced at Spancrete's facility in Waukesha, WI.
Construction began in September and is scheduled to be complete in September 2009.