Cannon Design / Insite Consulting Architects
A rendering of the proposed UW-Madison Science Hall Renovation.
A rear study hall addition is planned for UW-Madison's Science Hall to make the building feel more like a '360 degree building.'
UW-Madison officials are planning to renovate one of the university’s most iconic buildings.
Science Hall, built in 1887, will undergo a historic renovation with interior upgrades and construction of a rear atrium. The project is expected to cost $163.2 million, according to Gillian Drummond, UW-Madison director of public affairs. The renovation will also tackle outstanding “safety, accessibility and deferred maintenance issues,” according to a request for qualified architects created by the Universities of Wisconsin in 2024. The renovation is fully funded by grants and gifts, said Aaron Williams, campus planner and landscape architect for UW-Madison, at a May 22 meeting of the Joint Campus Area Committee.
“One of the main purposes for this project is to restore the building and do some much-needed maintenance to the building,” said Stacy Keller, senior architect at Insite Consulting Architects, a historic architecture firm based in Madison and Washington, D.C. that’s doing design work for the project alongside Chicago-based firm Cannon Design.
The firm plans to add an atrium, intended as a lounge or study space, to the back of the building, which Keller said would assist in making the building feel like “more of a 360 degree building.” She noted that people who need an accessible entrance must currently enter through a back entrance in a space that’s otherwise just a parking lot.
“We really want the space between Radio Hall and the addition to feel more like a plaza, rather than just a rear alleyway,” said Keller. “So we're going to provide the enhancements to make it a nice place that pedestrians want to be and have that clear access between Helen White [Hall] and Bascom Hill.”
Other exterior renovations, according to Keller, are expected to include a brick pathway outside the building’s rear, “full slate roof replacement,” wood window repairs and the potential addition of some storm windows. Green roofs are being floated as an option for the atrium.
The building, which contains the oldest lecture hall on campus still currently in use, houses the campus geography department, the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the state Cartographer’s Office. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
Ald. MGR Govindarajan, whose district includes the campus, ran an Instagram poll asking for students’ opinions on the atrium addition. Feedback at 4:45 p.m., when the meeting started, was mixed.
“Yay study spaces, but fugly style,” said one commenter. “Glass on bricks, really?”
Another student: “It seems pretty, but like a bit too modern for Science Hall. Maybe better for [the] new Humanities area.”
Govindarajan says in an interview he’s glad there’s another study space planned for the building — “students are desperately in need of more places to study that is not their dorm room or a library” — but isn’t a fan of its proposed look.
“It just doesn't fit the design,” says Govindarajan. “People think about Science Hall and they see this old rustic castle, essentially. [Adding] a sleek, modern white and glass kind of thing to the back with these brand new futuristic lights — that just doesn't fit the vibe very much.”
A request for bids from contractors is tentatively planned for release in September 2026. Construction is planned for February 2027, and substantial completion of the project is expected in February 2029.
[Editor's note: This article was updated to correct the total cost of the renovation. It is expected to be $163.2 million, not $81 million.]
