Historian Helps Build Architectural Firm
Anne Biebel, principal of Isthmus Architecture, Inc., displays a copy of the Wisconsin Capitol East Wing Historic Structure Report, which Isthmus Architecture prepared as part of a joint venture with Kahler Slater Architects called East Wing Architects, LLC.
Anne Biebel is an architectural historian who is committed to the preservation of significant vintage buildings. She and her colleague Laura Davis, AIA founded Isthmus Architecture, Inc. in March 1998. Biebel has a master's degree in architectural history from the University of Wisconsin and has worked at the University of Wisconsin Press as a researcher and editorial assistant. She also has completed the architectural technician program at Madison Area Technical College. Her passion for documenting the art and science of historical buildings drove her to entrepreneurship.
"Nine months before registering the business, Laura and I took a business planning course," says Biebel. She had worked for another architectural firm and had done some unit business planning within the company, but connected with the Small Business Development Center at UW-Madison to deepen her understanding of the process. At the SBDC she began working with counselor Jack Reiners. "It was in working with Jack that it became clear what the nuts and bolts of business were—what it took to be viable—what the lenders needed," says Biebel.
Joint Venture Helped Establish Business
Isthmus Architecture was born in the midst of the restoration of the Wisconsin State Capitol. Biebel and her colleagues at Isthmus joined with the architectural firm of Kahler Slater, Inc., to establish East Wing Architects, LLC. The joint venture provided comprehensive restoration and rehabilitation services to the state in completing the final phase of the Capitol project. It was a fortuitous way to launch a new business.
When Biebel and her coworkers first set up shop, they occupied a cramped second floor apartment in a building on Madison's State Street, just down from the Capitol. Today, the firm leases space on the second floor of the city's historic Machinery Row building. Their quarters are just a stone's throw from Monona Terrace, the 60-years-in-the-making convention center inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright.
In keeping with their commitment to preservation, the architects designed their own interior in the spacious warehouse called Machinery Row. Isthmus was among the renovated building's first tenants, and in mid-2002, was expanding its office space to about 3,900 square feet. Their warehouse-to-office renovation maintains the integrity of the turn-of-the-century structure as faithfully as possible.
With its preservation market niche, Isthmus Architecture has done work on the Idaho State Capitol, Boise. Biebel says the firm is holding its own as other firms compete for restoration work. Isthmus markets its services regionally, and views other firms as potential collaborators rather than competitors.
At its four-year mark, Isthmus Architecture has 21 employees. Biebel says that one of her big adjustments as the business has grown has been to experience what it's like to be an owner rather than an employee. One of Biebel's biggest thrills as the business has grown has been to develop processes for undertaking their work in new and creative ways. "We are finally at a point that our systems are fairly well in place."
Isthmus Architects continues as a SBDC counseling client. "It's wonderful that we have a long-term relationship with Jack," says Biebel. "He applies his business sensibility to our particular situation. And . . . Jack always advocates having a plan!" The staff of Isthmus Architects does indeed have a strategic plan. Biebel said they completed one before the firm was a year old. The principals have an annual retreat with a facilitator, during which they review and refine their plan to keep it a "living" document.
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