joe gallagher

Ramaker is a 100% employee-owned company! Our owners have worked tirelessly to complete thousands of projects internationally – from water parks, to hotels, to cemeteries, to telecommunications – and much, much more! We believe our owners are what makes Ramaker so great, so read below to learn more about Bethany, one of our amazing owners!

5 months

Easily the number one reason I made the move to Ramaker was the ability to work with all the various engineering groups, In-house. There is so much talent here throughout every type of engineering and such a variety of different work going on that there is such an enormous opportunity to learn something new every day, outside of your own profession. The collaboration is wonderful.

I really like the atmosphere. It is very professional while maintaining a somewhat relaxed vibe. The ESOP is an added bonus.

Currently, we are working on developing permanent Cabana’s for the Four Seasons Hotel of Orlando, FL – Disney. While a smaller project, it has actually been interesting progressing the design concepts for the five cabanas, as the design of each (while similarly structured) is drastically different to blend in with surrounding materials and landscape/pool features. It is actually a great small project for playing with functional design!

Architecture and design has always been something I have been passionate about. But really being a part of it now and understanding that every design problem has its own intricacies and no two projects are ever the same. It is rather fascinating to know that each new project, each new client, and pretty much every day brings with it a new, different challenge – and the finished products are always rewarding to see!

Yes! Aside from growing up in Warminster, PA, I lived in Bristol, RI for 4 years while doing my undergraduate studies at Roger Williams University. I then moved back to Philadelphia to attend Temple University for graduate school, experiencing the North Philadelphia culture for a year and the South Philadelphia culture for 3 years before moving to West Chester, PA and then ultimately out to Madison in 2016!

A lakeside piece of property with some of the nicest views in the city of Madison; and then I would build as many affordable housing units as I could in a vertical fashion so that people could have a chance to experience living on the lakes of Madison and the downtown lifestyle at a more affordable cost of living.

LEARN. I know it sounds corny, but seriously getting to come to a firm every day where every single person is working on something totally different; from architecture, to aquatics, to cemeteries to telecom towers, to digging up earth and exploring sites to documenting the carpeting and wall coverings of a building – never-ending opportunities to LEARN something new!

I’m from the Philadelphia area….. just kidding, I legit tell every single person who I ever meet that I’m from Philly. I am a die-hard Philadelphia sports fanatic (FLY EAGLES FLY). Well, except for the Flyers…..I root for the Canes…but still, die-hard sports fan.

Chicken Enchiladas with Mole sauce from Cuco’s restaurant in Madison, WI – all day.

This is a hard question for me to answer, because I feel like my path thus far in life has been influenced by the experiences of the people, I have intentionally surrounded myself with. If I have to pick someone, I would genuinely say my wife. She convinced me to personally look differently at the world of mental health; to allow others into my life and to provide insight on the challenges I was facing and the thoughts and feelings I buried within me. My entire outlook on life, daily activities, meeting new people, and just my overall daily energy is 100% attributed to my wife; it is the one thing I truly can never thank her enough for…

I am married to my wonderful wife Chelsea! We have been together now for 7 years (married April 23, 2016)! We have a zoo at our house: 4 cats, 2 dogs! And we just recently welcomed our daughter Stella James Gallagher into the world on September 24th of this year!!

I am involved with Downtown Madison Inc. and sit on the building committee for the River Food Pantry in Madison. Keeping up to date on what is happening in and around Madison and Dane county is super important to me as I like to stay involved in the development side of things and bring my expertise to the table whenever needed. I managed the renovation of the food pantry, doing the design and helping out with the majority of the demolition of the existing spaces. It was great to see members of the community come together along with Operation Fresh Start to re-build the pantry into a new client experience; one that has been rather successful. I am very big into music, having previously performed in a band for 4+ years doing shows throughout New England, and still play guitar when I can – for fun. Lastly (and my wife hates me bringing it up…) I buy/sell sports memorabilia and run my own eBay store selling those and a few other sports-related items as I get them! I can (& will – don’t tempt me) talk about sports all day, 24/7 if need be!

Probably some sort of hardcore punk and/or heavy metal screaming music that most people will not want to hear! And just for the record – there is the occasional singing…

Still performing with my band had I not continued with the profession, or something sports-related. I actually debated between Sports Journalism and Architecture for a little while in high school before ultimately deciding I could always write whenever I wanted to – but designing spaces and cultivating experiences was more exciting!

Going back to Iceland and just relaxing. People think of ‘relaxing’ as sitting on the beach, feet in the sand, lounging… when I think of relaxing, I think of Iceland, Geothermal pools, beautiful & DIFFERENT landscapes, and wonderful company. The people of Iceland are hands down THE nicest, most welcoming people I have ever met. My wife and I spent our honeymoon in Iceland and haven’t stopped thinking about it since!