Destination, Entertainment
Client | competition
Partner Agency/ Designer | none
Services leveraged | 3D modeling, Photo-real rendering, Space Planning, Material Selection, Inspiration & Trending, Brainstorming, Concept Formation, Conceptual Planning, Architectural Diagramming
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Catalyst worked alone on this design competition for the AIA in Milwaukee. The ask was to create an Entertainment Complex as a destination to enhance the north-western edge of downtown Milwaukee, near the existing BMO Harris Bradley Center. Catalyst was involved in all aspects of this design competition including space planning, architectural diagrams, concept formation, brainstorming, 3D modeling / photo-real renders and display boards. - Catalyst finished with a 2nd place entry to the competition. See the competition text below.
Milwaukee’s downtown and west downtown contain many entertainment destinations that are world class - a Performing Arts Center, three enviable music destinations (Pabst Theater, Riverside Theater, and Turner Hall), an expo center, Library, Museum, the Milwaukee Theater and, of course, two sports facilities the BMO Harris Bradley Center and the U.S Cellular Arena. To the south is the re-invigorated Grand Avenue Mall and new creative spaces. These are all flanked by higher education facilities - Marquette to the southwest, MSOE to the east and MATC to the west.
This robust context of entertainment choices offers a catalyst for additional entertainment program which should be complementary rather than competitive. In this proposal, a 12 screen cinema provides an addition to downtown Milwaukee that is currently lacking. This large cinema and entertainment program would be on par with the iPic Theater at Bayshore Town Center to the north.
In addition to the 12 screen cinema would be bowling, rentable meeting space, concessions/food, and a bar. This cinema would be the anchor tenant situated to the north of the site to; first, to act as a catalyst for new development in the Park East, and then to create urban connections to this new program.
It is also critical to provide mixed-use program on this Kilbourn site along with the cinema - this includes bars, shops, and an anchor cafe at the southwest corner of the site facing 6th street and Kilbourn Ave. A culinary school is paired with MATC and is situated on the second level which would use the cafe as a real-world testing grounds. Keeping people on the site would be a small boutique hotel on the upper levels of the narrow bar buildings, one with a green roof, which would grow items for the cafe and school. Lastly, a new sports plaza takes over the space between the new program at the street and the BMO Harris Bradley Center’s west entry - giving much need access and opportunity to this forgotten entry.
Parking is nearly doubled on the site from the current number of spaces, including 4 levels above grade and 2 levels below. This reflects the existing needs of MATC, the Bradley Center and the new cinema and hotel program. The parking contains retail space at the street level and is capped with a green roof for recreation which is missing in the downtown area - this includes batting cages and a golf driving range. This area would also offer great views of the Milwaukee skyline and be a destination for ceremonies. Lastly, the top levels of the parking garage carve of a one-of-a-kind urban “drive-in” theater which leverages the facilities of the main cinema program.
All of these mixed-use programs are situated into several buildings which use form, materials, and apertures to express the functions happening within. The formal volumetric moves give the site a character at the larger urban scale, hinting at the cinema program, while the facade apertures, material choices and storefronts give a grain and texture at the pedestrian scale - something that is lacking at the current site in the shadow of large parking garages and arenas. Materials take their cue from the Bradley center as well as neighboring brick projects (MATC, US Cellular), while adding ribbons of wood to warm up the color and texture palette.
