Milwaukee Tool, Red Beacon

Lemberg was selected to provide the electrical construction for landmark Milwaukee Tool's Red Beacon project in downtown Milwaukee. This 350,000 square foot project was the renovation of an existing 5-story building into office space for Milwaukee Tool carried out over several phases and across an aggressive production schedule. The entire project was performed with zero safety incidents.

The team was challenged with supply chain issues threatening the availability of components. To combat these issues, new or temporary solutions were suggested to keep the project moving forward. Proactive planning, good communications, and well-managed productivity were key to maintaining the timeline.

Lemberg collaborated with Milwaukee Tool, the general contractor, the architect and the builder, delivering the project through design-build, design-assist, and plan-specification methods. Consistent collaboration and communication with the project engineer helped uncover efficiencies and extensive cost-saving prefabrication opportunities.

Initial phases of the project included the interior demolition of several floors with the simultaneous buildouts of other floors. The buildouts included all new electrical infrastructures to support new offices, conference rooms and open workstations. Later phased buildouts on additional floors challenged the team to devise solutions that allowed safe occupancy during construction.

It was important to Milwaukee Tool to have the craftsmanship and skill of the electrical and mechanical trades highlighted. So, these systems remained intentionally exposed in the building. Care was taken to hide manufacturer labelling and any guide marks made in the installation process. Lemberg created custom standardized labeling for electrical boxes to keep a neat appearance and custom painted lighting fixtures to match the customer brand.

The main 13.2 KW switchboard had to be expanded to support the new functionality of the building. This had to be done while three floors of the building were already occupied. The work was performed under the onsite guidance of Lemberg's Safety Director and strict WE Energies safety protocols. After the service was shut down, Lemberg electricians added grounding clamps for an additional layer of protection. The team updated the high voltage switch gear, installed six lightning arrests on existing switches, and updated the grounding on switchboard sections to meet new WE Energies standards. The entire process was completed in 10.5 hours.

During the main service shutdown, Lemberg also made temporary arrangements to furnish electrical lighting and power for the fully stocked commercial kitchen refrigerators and freezers, as well as the IT servers, fire alarm and security systems. 

Finally, Lemberg Signs and Lighting team was later brought in to update the power supplies to the unique LED main entry sign and the two exterior brand signs.

Project Features

• Electrical Wiring
• Design Assist
• Prefabrication
• Vendor Managed Inventory
• Main Service Switchgear
• Temporary Lighting