It’s 6:40 a.m., and the Findorff construction crew is kicking off another day at the future School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences (CDIS) building. What will soon be a state-of-the-art hub for high-tech innovation and collaboration is currently an open-air structure of beams, concrete and heavy equipment.
After a foreman’s huddle, the crew gathers together for a sunrise bend and stretch session. Passersby on University Avenue or Charter Street at 7 a.m. will see more than 100 construction workers doing their stretching exercises.
“It’s our normal morning routine,” Findorff Senior Superintendent Todd Brakob (’96) says. “It’s proven to reduce soft tissue injuries on a construction job site.”
From there, it’s off to the races. The project broke ground on April 25 with plans for a projected opening in April 2025. That gives the crew almost exactly two years to build out the more than 340,000 square-foot building, raise seven stories and bring the design vision to life.
And things are moving fast. Already, the project has hit some major milestones. The crew recently completed the foundation, which includes concrete work and basement walls. On Oct. 27, CDIS invited UW–Madison supporters, including students, donors, alumni, faculty, staff and community members, to sign a 16-foot beam that is now part of the new building’s superstructure. Principal donors John and Tashia Morgridge were the first to sign the beam.
Ask Findorff Ironworker Foreman Brian Falleck what milestone he’s looking forward to most with this project, and he’ll respond with one word: “Completion.” He was at the celebration to hook the beam up, but he didn’t sign it. “I’ll wait to sign the one at the very top,” he says.
As it turns out, this beam was on the shrimpy side compared to some of the major steel that will be a part of this building. The longest structural member was a 111-foot-long steel truss that took a 500-ton crane and five weeks to finally erect into the structure. Other beams weigh in at 25 tons, and they’re working with multiples of these structural pieces at a time.
“Spencer [Walch], the guy up in the sky, is crucial to the whole success of the job and the safety,” Brakob says. “There’s sometimes three or four or five beams in the air at one time, and he manages that and follows directives from the crews on the ground when he’s 200-plus feet in the air.”
The placement of each beam leads the project one step closer to completion, and the final project promises to be beautiful. Design elements include green roofs, a massive atrium, collaboration spaces, labs, skylights and a striking staircase. All of these details were thoughtfully curated to support students and faculty in Computer Sciences, Statistics and the Information School, as well as Biostatistics & Medical Informatics, the Center for High Throughput Computing, the Data Science Institute and the N+1 Institute.
CDIS recently selected Clayton Binkley, a Seattle-based sculpture artist, to create a piece for the building. His sculpture entitled Ghost Forest will stand prominently outside the northeast entrance of the building, which is visible from University Avenue and Charter Street.
But that’s in the future. For now, Brakob, Falleck and the crew are focused on building walls, getting watertight and completing the enclosure.
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked on a number of campus buildings,” says Brakob, an alumnus and father of a current Kinesiology student. “It’s very satisfying to be able to give back to the institution that I got my degree from.”