STUDENT WELLNESS AND PET THERAPY CENTER

The Horse Barn is a historic building on the UW-Madison campus, originally built to house horses and cattle for the College of Agriculture and Life Science. Today, the building is underutilized, and the University is investing in a remodel to transform this historic building into a new WELL Building Certified student wellness and pet therapy center. This new center will focus on student well-being and include social spaces, meeting areas, a cafe, and a pet therapy program.

The building is located on the corner of Elm Dr. and Linden Dr. near the Lake Shore Dorm neighborhood and northwest campus buildings. The center plans to hold well-being classes, and workshops, and offer individual and group support sessions. The project aims to be welcoming and inclusive of the entire UW-Madison community, offering respite for students from the daily stresses of university life.

This project marries design thinking with interior architecture to create a meaningful, functional, and beautiful space . We will take on empathetic research, brainstorming, prototyping, and testing. The space will honor the historic qualities of the building while celebrating its new purpose. It will be a holistic, universal design that welcomes all UW-Madison students to create a healthier, more supported, thriving campus community .

Mission

To design a joyful and inviting wellness space that celebrates mental and physical health, cultivates community connections, and encourages play in order to help UW- Madison students flourish both socially and academically.

Vision

To harmonize the natural and built environment while paying homage to the original architectural structure. The building will provide students an area of respite, juxtaposing calm environments with playful and fun spaces, offering a sense of choice . The interior will be equipped to aid UW-Madison’s community tend to their well-being in a functional and meaningful way.

1868

The original building on 520 Elm Drive was built, referred to as “The Farm House.” This building was used to hold horses and beef cattle for the College of Agriculture and Life Science.

Site Context

Key Takeaways

1899

The site was renovated by Daniels J.T.W. Jennings to create more of a medieval look, using a NeoTudor Style. It is renamed, “The Horse Barn.”

2023

Today, the building is underutilized on campus. UWMadison has opted to renovate this historic structure into a new wellness center to support student health on campus.

Sun shines extensively on south side of building. May heat the space. Rely on that side for maximum daylight illumination.

North side of the building has a view of Lake Mendota and the lake shore nature path.

Building orientation is East/West. Room for a pavilion on South or West sides, North and East sides are constrained by the site.

Main roads are Linden Dr. and Elm Dr. limited street parking around the building. Be aware of noise pollution from the traffic on the busy University Avenue nearby.

Site can be accessed by the bike and pedestrian paths from University Ave, sidewalks from Bascom Hill, also the Lake Shore Nature path.

Building is on the far west side of campus. While it is close to the Lake Shore residence halls, it must be considered how to draw more students to that area of campus to use the space.

Site is nearby the newly built Bakke Recreation Center, consider how to make the buildings programmatically complement each other rathen thatn compete.