FEATuRED PROJECT
Urban Ecology Center
Environmental Community Centers
–Project value: Projects ranging from $4 million to $10 million
Project completion: 2009 – present
Project highlights: Rivet has been a longtime partner of the Urban Ecology Center (UEC), a nationally recognized environmental community center with three branches in Milwaukee. Over the years, Monique has worked on projects at:
- Riverside Park – Project manager while at Jansen and owner’s representative for master planning on the adjacent property known as Riverland. Riverside Park is a 20,000-square-foot building that includes a tower with a 40-foot climbing wall, a large solar array, extensive use of salvaged and locally sourced materials, and a green roof.
- Menomonee Valley – Provided pro-bono owner’s rep services while serving on the board of directors. Menomonee Valley involved converting a 100-year-old tavern and includes a green roof and geothermal heating system. It pushed the envelope on reuse of the existing structure and reclaimed materials.
- Washington Park – Owner’s representative for conceptual planning. Washington Park is housed in a renovated park pavilion building. Planning is under way to expand and further renovate the building to address deferred maintenance and expand programming opportunities.
The UEC aims to inspire the community to be more environmentally aware and pushed the boundaries to incorporate sustainable building practices into each of its branch facilities. The team applied a set of six guiding lenses developed by the UEC (program/fun factor, budget, environment, equity/neighborhood, schedule and aesthetics) to every decision made to ensure it reflected the UEC’s values and would result in a building they could be proud of.
Client’s perspective
“It was Monique’s amazing accuracy with her cost estimations, her firm hand on the subcontractors, her total commitment to green philosophies that we as the owner were pushing, her creative approaches to solving problems, her deep list of contacts, her efficient organizational skills and her ability to keep us all to a deadline that made this project a success. Monique works from a position of high integrity, is honest to the core, navigates her male-dominated field with grace and, most importantly, is just a lot of fun to work with.”