Ascent

Milwaukee
Height 86.6 m / 284 ft
Floors 25
Official Name
The current legal building name.

Ascent

Type
CTBUH collects data on two major types of tall structures: 'Buildings' and 'Telecommunications / Observation Towers.' A 'Building' is a structure where at least 50% of the height is occupied by usable floor area. A 'Telecommunications / Observation Tower' is a structure where less than 50% of the structure's height is occupied by usable floor area. Only 'Buildings' are eligible for the CTBUH 'Tallest Buildings' lists.

Building

Status
Completed
Architecturally Topped Out
Structurally Topped Out
Under Construction
Proposed
On Hold
Never Completed
Vision
Competition Entry
Canceled
Proposed Renovation
Under Renovation
Renovated
Under Demolition
Demolished

Completed

Completion

2022

Country
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of Country, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

United States

City
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of City, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Milwaukee

Function
A single-function tall building is defined as one where 85% or more of its usable floor area is dedicated to a single usage. Thus a building with 90% office floor area would be said to be an "office" building, irrespective of other minor functions it may also contain.

A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions (or uses), where each of the functions occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not constitute mixed-use functions. Functions are denoted on CTBUH "Tallest Building" lists in descending order, e.g., "hotel/office" indicates hotel function above office function.

Residential

Structural Material
All-Steel
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from steel. Note that a building of steel construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of steel beams is still considered an “all-steel” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

All-Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from concrete which has been cast in place and utilizes steel reinforcement bars and/or steel reinforced concrete which has been precast as individual components and assembled together on-site.

All-Timber
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from timber. An all-timber structure may include the use of localized non-timber connections between timber elements. Note that a building of timber construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of timber beams is still considered an “all-timber” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

Mixed-Structure
Utilizes distinct systems (e.g. all-steel, all-concrete, all-timber), one on top of the other. For example, a Steel Over Concrete indicates an all-steel structural system located on top of an all-concrete structural system, with the opposite true of Concrete Over Steel.

Composite
A combination of materials (e.g. steel, concrete, timber) are used together in the main structural elements. Examples include buildings which utilize: steel columns with a floor system of reinforced concrete beams; a steel frame system with a concrete core; concrete-encased steel columns; concrete-filled steel tubes; etc. Where known, the CTBUH database breaks out the materials used within a composite building’s primary structural elements.

Concrete-Timber Composite Over Concrete

Energy Label

LEED Silver

Height
Architectural
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."

86.6 m / 284 ft

Occupied
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest occupied floor within the building.
79.4 m / 260 ft
Floors Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).

25

# of Apartments
Number of Apartments refers to the total number of residential units (including both rental units and condominiums) contained within a particular building.

259

# of Parking Spaces
Number of Parking Spaces refers to the total number of car parking spaces contained within a particular building.

335

# of Elevators
Number of Elevators refers to the total number of elevator cars (not shafts) contained within a particular building (including public, private and freight elevators).

3

Tower GFA
Tower GFA refers to the total gross floor area within the tower footprint, not including adjoining podiums, connected buildings or other towers within the development.

45,708 m² / 491,997 ft²

Structural Material Concrete-Timber Composite Over Concrete
Structural Details:
Floors 1 – 6
Columns
Reinforced Concrete
Core
Reinforced Concrete
Floor Spanning
Reinforced Concrete Floorplate
Floors 7 – 25
Columns
Laminated Timber
Core
Reinforced Concrete
Floor Spanning
Laminated Timber Beam
Floor Spanning
Laminated Timber Floorplate
Floor Spanning
Non-Structural Floor Topping

Rankings

#
15
Tallest in Milwaukee

Construction Schedule

2018

Proposed

2020

Construction Start

2022

Completed

Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).

Fire
Material Supplier

Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).

Post-Tensioning
Developer
New Land Enterprises LLC; Wiechmann Enterprises
Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Contractor
Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.

C.D. Smith Construction Inc.; Catalyst Construction
Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).

Civil
JSD Professional Services
Fire
Land Surveyor
JSD Professional Services
Material Supplier

Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).

Crane
Liebherr; Morrow Equipment Company
Joints/Fasteners
WIEHAG GmbH
Post-Tensioning
Structural Timber
KLH Massivholz GmbH; Timberlab, Inc

CTBUH Awards & Distinctions

Structure Award 2023 Award of Excellence

2023 CTBUH Awards

 

Videos

01 October 2020 | Milwaukee

Timber Rising | Erica Spiritos

Toward a Factory Approach to Tall Timber Building Construction

 

Research

23 May 2022

Interactive Study - The State of Tall Timber: A Global Audit

CTBUH Research

This data study represents the significant recent momentum of the mass-timber movement worldwide. There are now 139 mass timber buildings around the world of eight...

Global News

22 July 2022

High-Rise in Milwaukee Takes Title of World’s Tallest Mass Timber Hybrid

On July 20, 2022 New Land Enterprises welcomed the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional...

23 May 2022

Interactive Study - The State of Tall Timber: A Global Audit

CTBUH Research

This data study represents the significant recent momentum of the mass-timber movement worldwide. There are now 139 mass timber buildings around the world of eight...

04 April 2022

Advancing Tall Timber, One Code Revision at a Time

Hans-Erik Blomgren, Timberlab

In 2021, several major obstacles were overcome in the path to adoption of mass timber as a viable option for high-rise construction in North America....

04 April 2022

State of Tall Timber 2022

Daniel Safarik, Jacob Elbrecht & William Miranda, CTBUH

The past few years have seen tremendous interest in the development of mass timber buildings of increasing height, in urban settings, many of which are...

12 January 2021

Ascending Timber Aspiration in Milwaukee

Tim Gokhman, New Land Enterprises

As developers’ appetites for building tall with mass timber grows, acceptance of the technique is growing among approving authorities, which in turn, allows the height...

16 September 2020

Ascent – Challenges and Advances of Tall Mass Timber Construction

Alejandro Fernandez, Jordan Komp, and John Peronto, Thornton Tomasett

Ascent, a 25 story residential tower located in Milwaukee, WI (USA), will become the tallest timber building in the world upon completion. This paper discusses...

22 July 2022

High-Rise in Milwaukee Takes Title of World’s Tallest Mass Timber Hybrid

On July 20, 2022 New Land Enterprises welcomed the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional...

17 December 2021

Ascent, Milwaukee Structurally Tops Out

New Land Enterprises and development partner Wiechmann Enterprises celebrate milestone as mass timber construction is structurally topped out. Earlier this week, the final mass timber beams,...

01 September 2020

Construction Starts On Milwaukee Mass Timber Tower

Construction has started on an unusual downtown Milwaukee apartment tower. The 25-story, 259-unit high-rise is being constructed with a type of mass timber construction called...

01 May 2020

Timber Composite Tower in Milwaukee To Begin Pre-Leasing

New Land Enterprises will begin pre-leasing apartments in Ascent, a proposed 25-story apartment tower made from mass timber, in the coming days. A brochure will...

30 September 2019

Proposed Wooden High-Rise in Milwaukee Gets Final Changes Approved

The City of Milwaukee Plan Commission and the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee have unanimously approved changes to New Land Enterprises’ Ascent residential project that...

15 May 2019

Mass Timber Apartment Tower Moves Forward with Grant in Milwaukee

A downtown Milwaukee high-rise has found support from an unlikely source: the United States Department of Agriculture. The department’s Forestry Service division announced this week...

24 January 2019

Timber Frame, 21-Story Milwaukee Apartment Tower Wins Plan Commission Approval

A downtown Milwaukee apartment high-rise that would use high-grade timber, not steel, for its frame has won Plan Commission approval. The 21-story Ascent would feature...