Each has spent years building a successful, Madison-based business.
Now Robin Stroebel and Allan Bachmann are building a marriage and a rich life outside of work.
Robin is president of InteriorLOGIC Facility Planning, Inc., which focuses on planning and designing corporate workplace environments.
Allan is chief executive officer of Bachmann Construction Company, Inc., a family business with humble roots that now does $25,000,000 in construction projects annually.
They are practically newlyweds, but the
couple met on a construction project 30 years before their 2008 wedding. “We were both members of the [now defunct] downtown YMCA and Bachmann had been doing construction
work at the Y,” Allan recalls. “There
was a pretty substantial remodeling project.”
“I asked if I could work on the interiors
portion since I was a member there too,” adds Robin. “We met at a meeting. I had never worked with a contractor before on a construction
project — and it was a tough one. I
learned a lot from the contractor,” Robin says, referring to Allan. “The contractor was a great mentor. We were friends.”
For many years the two didn’t see each
other. Then, in the 1990s, they worked on another job together. One collaboration led to another, and eventually Bachmann and InteriorLOGIC
were working together regularly.
Notable collaborative projects include the Swiss Colony national headquarters in Monroe and the facilities for Unity Insurance in Sauk City. Other projects are in the works.

Getting started
A native of Cedarburg, Wis., Robin received her bachelor’s degree in interior design from UW-Madison and has been in town ever since (although InteriorLOGIC has a second office in Cedarburg.) She started her career with an office furniture company, where she worked 11 years in design, sales
and marketing. As the world of office environments became more complex, Robin found her niche.
“When I first started you would buy a
metal desk and a file cabinet,” Robin explains. “The late ‘80s saw the move to workstations and panels, and a need for strategic facility planning. I really wanted to help people and be their valued advisor for anything
facilities related.”

With that goal in mind, and the desire to
be her own boss, Robin founded Interior-
LOGIC in 1989.
“I help clients plan their largest asset,
which is their facility,” she explains. “We look at a business’s goals and objectives, then make the space meet their business objectives through advanced planning.” To evaluate
space needs, Robin developed her own
process, called SFP360. “It’s an interactive process that involves focus groups, surveys and more. We start every project with it.”
Robin thrives in her field. “I love working
with my clients and staff,” she says. “Everyone has a different dilemma, and I like problem solving — putting the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together. The new technology and everything it brings is fascinating. I enjoy the psychology of planning a space — to accomplish the goals … and help my clients succeed.”
InteriorLOGIC is currently working on a
renovation of the alumni lounge at UW-Madison’s Pyle Center and the interior of a Milwaukee law firm. Earlier this year, Robin’s firm earned the Gold Award from the American Society of Interior Designers, Wisconsin chapter, for the design of the new Bobcat of
Madison 25,000-square-foot dealership.

Allan’s turn
Bachmann Construction was founded in
1954 by Allan’s parents, Fred and Ruth Bachmann.
The couple began their business together building cabinets from the basement of their home. Allan jokes that he started working for Bachmann Construction the day he was born. “Mom and Dad told me from the
time I can remember that I was going to go to college and then take over Bachmann Construction, which, when I was a teenager, was the last thing I wanted to do,” he says.
An industrial engineer by training, Allan
eventually had a change of heart. “Dad took me golfing one day while I was working on my master’s degree and said he was going to sell the business,” he says. “I couldn’t imagine there not being a Bachmann, so in 1975, just a
month after that conversation, I abandoned my master’s thesis and started working for the company. Something deep inside of me didn’t
want to see it sold.” He says his dad wasn’t trying to entice him — his parents just wanted to retire early after so many years of hard work. Allan says running the family business has
its challenges as he tries to take his parents’ vision and see the business through to the third generation. “The business started very small and I think we’ve been able to maintain that same family-type culture,” he says. “At
the same time, we’ve grown into a pretty large corporation. The most difficult challenge is to walk the fine line, maintaining family values in an industry that’s stressed.”

Like Robin, Allan has evolved his company over the years. “Mom and Dad, and for many years the second generation, just built buildings of other’s designs. We moved more toward design-build construction in the late
‘80s, early ‘90s. In the last several years that evolution has taken additional steps. We now help our clients with a lot of pre-design services
… We have to help them present a package so they can get their financing.”

Robin and Allan at home
With each partner at the helm of a business in related fields, shop talk at home is unavoidable.
“We talk shop a lot,” Allan says.
“We have to turn the switch on and off a lot.”
“At home we have a debriefing at the end of every day,” Robin adds. “We try to e-mail back and forth during the day so we don’t have to talk about it at night.”
And on the weekends, “we take two days and focus on our home life,” Robin says. The couple lives with their daughter on a hobby farm about 20 minutes outside of Madison. Allan recently harvested 10 acres of
hay, Robin tends to an acre and a half of perennials and they’re in the process of acquiring two jersey steers.
“Allan just built stalls in our barn and I
think we’re going to be horse people,” Robin says. When they need a break from farm work, the family takes their canoe to nearby Badfish Creek.
While working on their land, or enjoying
nature, “we’re really good at turning off professional
streams of talk,” says Allan.
Sounds like the foundation for a home life that’s as successful as the businesses they’ve built.

Debra Illingworth Greene is editor
of Dane County Lifestyles.