Bleubelle Farms
Location: Waukesha, Wisconsin
Building Type: Ground-Up
Project: 13,440 Sq. Ft. Riding Arena
The owners are a small family looking to take their hobby of horse riding to the next level. The cold and snowy winter months in Wisconsin meant that they had a 5-6 month wait period before they were able to ride and exercise their various breeds of horses again. Also, the existing stables they had were repurposed from an existing milking parlor in the basement of a barn built in the 1900s. To have an arena where the horses could be kept in a clean, safe, and inviting environment was very important to them. To combine these two necessities into one structure was crucial.
The building features a 10,000 sq. ft. riding arena with custom imported sand from out of state to fit the exact specifications the owners were looking for in a footing surface. The arena also has barn door style overhead doors for tractors/ service equipment on each end of the arena, custom kickboards, LED lighting, and viewing windows from common spaces as well as to the exterior. Operable bale doors were also placed throughout the arena for cross ventilation and various windows were installed for more natural light. The remaining square footage of the building was dedicated to an aisle way with (8) 12’x12′ stalls. Each stall has a custom built and powder coated steel sliding door and partition walls with custom stained tongue and groove cedar boards. Each stall also has an automatic waterer with heated water lines, feed slot, custom fitted stall grids & stone/ sand base to form a French drain system, and an operable bale door with transom windows above for natural light. Gooseneck LED lights and outlets were installed throughout the aisle way next to the stalls for added light as well as aesthetics. A 16’x12′ Tack Room with heat & A/C and plenty of room for hanging was also part of the common space of the arena. A large Dutch door opens up from the building to the exterior into a fenced in paddock, as well as an OH door with drive isle to a concrete manure storage pit.
The largest challenge of this project was the task of truly understanding the owners goals for the arena, and helping them understand what to expect. A lot of time was spent sitting with them and effectively communicating what they were looking for exactly, and offering up ideas and solutions in order to achieve this. Each design and job site meeting with our owners was spent studying the plans, communicating next steps, and ensuring everything they wanted in the building was to the standard they expected. Without having this ongoing communication with the owners not only from our architect and project manager, but also from our onsite Keller crew members, supervisor, and sub-contractors, a project of this scope and complexity would have never been as successful as it was.
