University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

Construction Cost: $28.5 million
Area / Square Feet: 175,000
Occupancy Date: October 2007

The Kress Events Center is an expansion and renovation of the west side of an aging recreation facility. Sited in the southeast athletics quadrant of the university, the new building has a presence from the road and therefore becomes a gateway from the south.

The building’s program is broken into two components. A recreation component adds ample space, including a suspended running track, a group exercise room, an additional basketball court, a climbing wall and a pool. A new basketball and volleyball competition space, which features a bowl configuration for maximum home-court advantage, is the largest mass and is oriented (with parking) to the south for the sake of convenience and to create the gateway feel. The entire athletics program is housed in offices in this area. A spacious, well-lit north-south concourse ties all these components together.

Primary exterior materials include light and dark banded buff-color brick (predominant on that side of campus), curtainwall and patina-colored roofs and canopies. The interior utilizes stained concrete floor patterns, exposed ceilings and plenty of clerestory light. Daylighting is a theme throughout the building and provides natural light in large interior volumes, such as the competition bowl and the public concourse.