Northwestern Mutual North Office Building

Northwestern Mutual is making a significant investment of over $500 million to enhance its North Office Building in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This project aims to expand and elevate the workplace and employee experience, aligning with the standards set by the Tower and Commons on their campus. The 540,000 square foot building is currently undergoing extensive interior and exterior renovations, designed to improve employee amenities, event spaces, and public engagement areas. The redesign will also optimize space usage, increasing the functional square footage of the downtown campus.

The construction manager for the project is a joint venture between Gilbane Building Co and CG Schmidt, with JP Cullen serving as the steel erector. The project consists of reshaping the entire façade of the 18-story building by adding new steel around the perimeter structure. JP Cullen’s Virtual Design and Construction team played a crucial role in this process by laser scanning each floor to validate existing conditions. This scan data was compared to both existing and new steel models to ensure design accuracy. Through this meticulous process, the team has identified and resolved potential issues such as interferences with temporary MEP risers, missing beams, and conflicts with the existing façade support system. This proactive approach helped to prevent problems before installation, adding significant value to the project.