The corporate headquarters of American Family Insurance in Madison, Wis., encompasses 1.3 million sf and is situated on a gently rolling, 465-acre wooded campus. Visitors may see blue heron, geese, wild turkeys and deer around the beautifully landscaped storm water retention pond. The 3,500 people working on the campus enjoy the walking and running path that circles the pond all year round.

The most recent phase of the headquarters complex, completed in 2000, includes a 506,000-sf freestanding addition that encompasses office, meeting and support space, as well as structured parking for 1,800 vehicles. The building contains offices and conference space and is connected to the 840,000-sf headquarters building by a pedestrian bridge and tunnel. Designed with the company’s future growth in mind, the new building can accommodate an additional 1,800 employees.

The freestanding office addition echoes the design of the existing facility, which is comprised of simple, strong geometry expressed in modest, enduring materials. It includes buff-colored brick and Midwestern-quarried stone trim that recalls the tradition of masonry construction and is reminiscent of a campus or academic environment.

In 2000, the corporate headquarters received the Design Award for Excellence from the Wisconsin Chapter - American Society of Landscape Architects (WASLA).

Project Information
Building Owner:		American Family Insurance Group
Building Location:		Madison, WI UNITED STATES
Project Type:		New Construction,Expansion
Principal Building Function:		National headquarters facility including office and administration, central data center and mail processing center.
Project Delivery Method:		Fast Track
Project Timeline		Apr 1989 Planning Start May 1989 Design Start Nov 1989 Construction Start Aug 2000 Completion Last known status: Completed
Construction Cost:		$151,400,000
Cost Per Sq. Ft:		$235
		About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes:		Auditorium Customer Support Data Center Headquarters Office
Total GSF:		1,346,000
Building Services:		Hot and cold water, satellite receiving, emergency generation, sprinkler system and security systems.
Project Team
Architect		Flad Architects
Builder		M. A. Mortenson
Consultant - Accoustical		Yerges Acoustics Consulting
Consultant - Vibration		Yerges Acoustics Consulting
Engineer - MEP		Affiliated Engineers Inc. (AEI)
Profile Created 02/02/2007
Last Updated 02/23/2007
About the Reported Cost Figures The cost figures reported are supplied by the firms that submitted these projects for publication, which in most cases are the designers or builders. Whereas these sources are intimately familiar with their projects, they may not be fully aware of the owners' finally-realized and recorded costs. In some cases, costs are truly and completely accounted for, and in others they represent a near approximation of the final costs. Costs have not been adjusted for year of construction, nor has any attempt been made to make regional cost adjustments. Further, costs are not comparable on any kind of detailed standard costing model. Hence, it is possible for the cost of one building to include a steam boiler, while the cost of a comparable building might not include the boiler, if steam is being supplied from an already existing campus grid. Or, in another case, a building might include excess boiler capacity to supply steam to another building. Some submittals include fees or unusual site improvements as part of the construction costs, which others do not.