Gehl Foods

Since 1896, Gehl Foods has been a leader in the food industry as a manufacturer of shelf-stable dairy products and beverages that are sold across the country. Gehl has a long history of growing and expanding its operations, most recently its headquarters and aseptic packaging facility in Germantown, WI. For over 125 years, the company has been a staple of the charming Milwaukee suburb’s downtown Main Street and wanted their 22,500 sq ft expansion to match the feel of the original facility’s old-world charm.

The original building was constructed with CMU block coated in white plaster, and Wells successfully mimicked the old-world Germanic design for the addition with white walls featuring extravagant stepped gables, complete with terracotta roof tiles, gutters and corbels. The exterior walls, which are insulated, integrate decorative features to give the appearance of a house, while utilizing a smooth form finish that was painted white on-site after construction. This design overcame the challenge of aesthetically fitting a food processing plant in the middle of an otherwise retail and residential neighborhood. To support multiple floors within the facility, lightweight solutions were used to provide a durable and sound-absorbing base. Prefabricated walls are ideally suited for manufacturing facilities since the insulated panels also make up the interior walls – making them an all-in-one building solution that meets USDA finish requirements and saved Gehl Foods time and money.