Milwaukee Public Museum Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium
Milwaukee, WisconsinLocated on the edge of downtown Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Public Museum has enhanced its appeal with the Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium, a 6,000 sf garden exhibit which allows visitors to learn and observe hundreds of living butterflies from all over the world in their natural habitat. For the entire HGA team, this was a project that offered many technical challenges, stretching HGA's creative problem-solving capabilities, design talents, and engineering abilities. In designing the facility, there were demands to be innovative in sustainable architecture. The need was to integrate the design architecture and engineering disciplines to provide for low operating costs through energy efficient passive solar that would allow for consistent temperatures through Milwaukee's cold winters and hot, humid summers. HGA worked closely in partnership with the museum staff and lepidopterist to understand how best to construct the double envelope system and "intelligent facade" to accommodate both temperate and tropical species of butterflies.