Fleet Farm of Oconomowoc

As part of their expansion into southeastern Wisconsin, Fleet Farm selected the large Pabst Farms development in the City of Oconomowoc with Interstate 94 frontage to build their new facility. Stephen Perry Smith Architects (SPSA) was selected to design the new Fleet Farm’s 218,628 SF retail store with an enclosed, partially covered outdoor materials yard, and a separate 4,900 SF C-store with a carwash and gas station. This design had to uphold the high standards that the City of Oconomowoc held for this “gateway” site and be in conformance with the Pabst Farm Design Guidelines to ensure a high quality retail development.

To establish a strong vernacular consistent with the Market Square at Pabst Farms design aesthetic, the exterior materials used on the Fleet Farm facility were vertically and horizontally articulated panel perimeter skin of ribbed precast with smooth bands and panel areas, accented with a taller height thin veneer masonry clad panels at the projecting corners. Then, intermediate and main entrance elements capped with flat roof projecting canopies were flanked with square grid patterned insets and supporting architectural brackets. The roof edge around the entire perimeter was articulated in its height and depth with raised parapets and tower elements above the projecting masonry panels. 

The main entrance features an arcade of brick columns with arched openings, and a stepped cornice treatment with brackets to promote the Pabst Farms theme, and grid-scored canopies over the aluminum framed main entrance and display windows in the intermediate masonry bump outs. These arched elements were repeated as insets in the brick corners with precast arched lintels, while providing human scale to the building. The C store/Car wash building has been designed to integrate the Fleet Farm retail building materials and arched lintel details with the addition of a standing seam slope roof, giving it increased scale and detail from Pabst Farms Boulevard. The gas pump canopy recalls the same stepped cornice treatment of the retail building.