New WHEDA Headquarters Building Earns AIA 2023 Merit Award

MADISON, Wis. – The new Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority’s (WHEDA’s) headquarters building won a 2023 Design Award from the American Institute of Architects at the Design Awards Gala last Friday. Opened in 2022, the building is located in the heart of Madison and provides workspace for nearly 185 employees.

“We are proud that our building has earned this award. Our leaders and employees worked closely with the architects and builders to create an energy-efficient and comfortable environment for our employees to engage in the important work of providing affordable housing for Wisconsin residents to call home,” said Elmer Moore, Jr., CEO and Executive Director of WHEDA. 

Architects from Potter Lawson, Inc. submitted the building for consideration as part of the state organization’s annual award competition. The building was lauded as demonstrating an “interesting twist to an industrial warehouse building” by one of the judges.

The new 5-story building complements the surrounding buildings and pays homage to this historical site, recalling the use of masonry while also incorporating modern steel and glass elements of today. The brick exterior is both high-performance and low maintenance, setting the sustainability tone for this once-underutilized urban site. Structured parking reduces the community parking footprint, and diminishes stormwater run-off, and WHEDA shares the structure with the surrounding community to further reduce parking lot sprawl.

“Energy efficiency was a driving goal of the building’s design underscoring WHEDA’s commitment to environmental sustainability,” Moore added. “The building features high efficiency, low consumption automated plumbing installations, and heating and air conditioning systems are as much as 95% efficient.” 

Anyone can visit the building at 908 E Main Street in Madison behind the Hotel Indigo and across the street from Breese Stevens Field.  In celebration of the 2023 winners, AIA Wisconsin hosted its third annual Design Awards Gala in Milwaukee on Friday, September 15, 2023.

ABOUT WHEDA

For 50 years, WHEDA has worked to provide low-cost financing for housing and small business development in Wisconsin. Since 1972, WHEDA has financed more than 87,300 affordable rental units, helped more than 138,300 families purchase a home, and provided more than 29,200 small business and agricultural loan guarantees. WHEDA is a self-supporting public corporation that receives no tax dollars for its operations. For more information on WHEDA programs visit wheda.com or call 800-334-6873.