Archinect - News

Manica Architecture debuts new NFL stadium proposal for potential Kansas City Chiefs relocation

2024-05-01T17:17:00-04:00

Manica Architecture has released renderings related to a late bid to lure the Kansas City Chiefs NFL franchise across the state border to Wyandotte County, Kansas. The design has been made public for the first time a week after the firm’s plans for a new Bears lakefront stadium in Chicago were panned by critics.

Rendering courtesy Manica Architecture

The proposed new dome-enclosed stadium was presented to Kansas lawmakers this week as part of a pitch to bring its first-ever major American sports franchise to the Jayhawk state in addition to potentially hosting the NCAA Final Four and concert tours, according to architect David Manica's recent statements to local outlets.

Rendering courtesy Manica Architecture

The repeat Super Bowl champions released a separate proposal for an $800 million renovation in Kansas City led by Populous in February. Its neighbor Kauffman Field (home to the Royals MLB franchise) is also weighing the costs of renovating its classic midcentury design over buil...

Populous advances new downtown ballpark district proposal in Kansas City

2024-02-22T12:51:00-05:00

The Kansas City Royals are advancing a scheme for a new downtown stadium district designed by Populous in a neighborhood called the Crossroads.

Slotted into a 17.5-acre site at the confluence of Grand Boulevard, Locust Street, Truman Road, and 17th Street, the development would offer a connector to the nearby South Loop Link project from OJB Landscape Architecture and BNIM. The proposal calls for an experience-laden "Arts District" to be enacted alongside the new ballpark, with a new hotel, shops, a residential component, and shopping also included.

Rendering courtesy of Populous

The site currently includes some undeveloped plots and small businesses adjacent to the Power & Light District. The franchise had previously floated plans for a new stadium (sans entertainment district) in either the East Village or North Kansas City. Cost estimates for the project are between $1–2 billion.

Rendering courtesy of Populous

Populous CEO Earl Santee told reporters: "This is my 23rd major league ...

Generator Studio designs America's first-ever dedicated sports facility for women in Kansas City

2023-10-24T19:40:00-04:00

Generator Studio (who is currently hiring a Sr. Project Designer and Interior Designer) is nearing completion of its new milestone CPKC Stadium project in Kansas City, Missouri. Once complete, it will become the first sports facility in the United States to be solely dedicated to female competitors and serve as the home of the Kansas City Current NWSL professional soccer franchise.

The 11,500-seat stadium is being delivered on a site adjacent to the Missouri River inside the 17-acre Berkley Riverfront Park at a cost of $117 million. The firm will look to expand on its previous Kansas City area designs for the Centene Community Ice Center and the Current’s mass timber Training Facility in the process, adding a historic caveat to a portfolio of other sports sector commissions that includes the MLS Seattle Sounders FC Center, Kraken Community Iceplex, and $25 million Amalie Arena Phase Two Renovation in Tampa.

Image courtesy CPKC

The CPKC Stadium project involved Thornton Tomasetti fo...

SOM's all-inclusive Kansas City terminal brings air transport design 'far into the future'

2023-02-28T17:04:00-05:00

This week, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is debuting a new civic landmark for the Kansas City area they claim will also set a new benchmark for inclusive design in transportation architecture while bringing its 51-year-old airport “far into the future.”

The new, 39-gate terminal comes with an adjacent 6,000-space parking garage designed by BNIM and importantly consolidates three smaller terminals into a single two-story structure. With room to expand by another 11 gates in the coming years, its layout keys on user circulation and comes with a series of design features in line with the city’s resolution to make it the “most accessible in the world.”

Image: © Lucas Blair Simpson | Courtesy of SOM

Under a hemlock-clad ceiling overhang, both levels of the light-filled, 1.1 million-square-foot I-shaped structure come with a series of locally-designed mosaics made from materials preserved from its predecessor building in order to preserve its memory. The products of an intensive commun...

Five major sports and entertainment venues by Populous: Your Next Employer?

2023-01-17T13:30:00-05:00

Following our previous visit to San Francisco-based Mork-Ulnes Architects, we are using the first 2023 edition of our Meet Your Next Employer series to explore the work of global sports and entertainment venue specialists Populous.

Founded in 1983, the firm operates 23 global offices including eight in the United States. Among the 3000+ projects in the firm’s portfolio include commissions for sports franchises such as MLB, the NBA, and the NFL, as well as major sporting events such as the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The firm’s background and culture were further explored back in late 2018 when we sat down with Missy Ragsdale, Director of Human Resources at Populous's Kansas City office as part of our How To Get A Job At ___ series. “Three words we regularly hear staff use to describe Populous are adaptive, energetic, and entrepreneurial,” Ragsdale told us.

Populous announces a new esports arena and NFT collection in its hometown

2022-04-29T20:03:00-04:00

Sports arena mainstay Populous is venturing into new territory after its announcement of a new five-part NFT collection in partnership with their hometown esports franchise aptly named the Kansas City Pioneers.

According to the firm, the collection is meant to showcase a prototype future home for fans of the increasingly popular potential future Olympic competition.

Image courtesy Populous

The new project represents the firm’s third official foray into esports following their 100,000 square foot Esports Stadium Arlington and the planned $500 million Toronto hotel and entertainment complex being developed in collaboration with OverActive Media.

Previously on Archinect: Populous and OverActive Media unveil updated plans for performance venue in Toronto

Pioneers co-founder Mark Josey says it will “[provide] access to authentic, personalized experiences, and build connections to a community here and beyond.” The new digital arena can be accessed via the metaverse platform OpenSea and pla...

Kansas City's iconic Willis Wood Theater to be reproduced in Walt Disney World

2017-07-21T21:01:00-04:00

The company announced that a new live entertainment venue off the Magic Kingdom’s Main Street will be modeled after KC’s iconic, bygone Willis Wood Theatre. The original theater opened in 1902 at 11th and Baltimore streets and stretched for a block and a half. It was a cultural hub for the city before it burned down in January 1917.

Featuring large Ionic columns and Baroque embellishments, the Willis Wood Theater, was designed by Louis Curtiss, Canadian-born American architect noted as one of KC's most prominent architects. It is speculated that Walt Disney frequented the theater when he was living in KC. “It is consistent with the tradition with the Disney theme parks; he incorporated his life into every aspect of the parks,” said Dan Viets, who co-wrote Walt Disney’s Missouri with Star movie critic Robert W. Butler.

BNIM restores Kansas City's century-old Westport Presbyterian Church

2017-06-06T20:11:00-04:00

Completed in 1905 in one of Kansas City, Missouri's oldest neighborhoods, the Westport Presbyterian Church was in dire need of repair after suffering from a catastrophic fire in 2011. Undertaking all the technical challenges that come with a project of this nature, architecture practice BNIM worked with the congregation to successfully preserve the Church's most sacred elements while creating a new, dynamic space for the community.

Photo © Michael Robinson.

The church's exterior limestone shell survived the fire, while its roof structure, interior structure, and finishes were destroyed. Following an analysis of the existing 27,000 square-foot building, BNIM restored the most significant elements in the original structure: the sanctuary, chapel, second floor, and basement. On the other hand, a second building first grafted to the church's east side in 1916 had to be fully reconstructed. BNIM also redesigned the storefront facing Westport Road to be more welcoming and easily accessible....

Watch: an ode to Marcel Breuer's Snower Residence in Kansas City

2016-08-19T13:08:00-04:00

Completed in 1954 for Robert and Marianne Snower, Marcel Breuer designed the house site unseen. The Snowers had reached out to Breuer after seeing his work in a magazine, and lived there until it was bought in 2014.

The current owners, Rob Barnes and Karen Bisset, then renovated some key aspects of the home, although not much was needed. The home still contains many of Breuer's original custom furniture. The below video by Hufft Projects, "A Letter to Marcel", reimagines the initial contact made between the Snowers and Breuer, and takes a tour through the home.

A Letter To Marcel from Hufft Projects on Vimeo.

h/t The Kansas City Star

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America’s Sorriest Bus Stop tournament enters final round: it's Kansas City, MO vs. Silver Spring, MD

2016-08-05T14:28:00-04:00

Each of the 16 bus stops that competed this year — and the agencies who oversee them — deserved a thorough shaming. No transit rider should ever have to wait in the rain for a bus with no posted schedule, or walk in a ditch along an eight-lane highway after disembarking. These conditions are deplorable but all too common in American cities. The two bus stops facing off today — in Kansas City and Silver Spring [...]— had some extra dreadful quality that sets them apart in the eyes of our voters.

Make It Right reveals new family-housing designs for Kansas City

2015-02-03T23:12:00-05:00

Make It Right, the non-profit organization founded by actor Brad Pitt in 2007, recently revealed six new single-family housing designs for the Manheim Park neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri. The single-family homes will be built on vacant lots directly across the Bancroft School Apartments, an affordable housing and community complex that Make It Right collaboratively built in 2013 to provide homes for young people transitioning out of foster care, seniors, and families in need.

Six local architecture firms designed each of the houses in collaboration with the Manheim Park Neighborhood Association and homeowners in the community.

Cover image: El Dorado Inc.

BNIM Architects:

DRAW architecture + urban design:

Hufft Projects:

KEM Studio:

Pendulum Studio:

You can support the project through donations.

A bread baker first

2014-09-26T11:25:00-04:00

"We have been spending eight months in the neighborhood, getting ideas from the residents, thinking about how do we repurpose these vacant lots...They can't all just be parks"

Natalie Gallagher profiles Kansas City Art Institute alum and community/social practice artist, Sean Starowitz. Some of Starowitz's projects include; Fresh Bread, Bread KC, Lots of Love and the Talk Shop.

Brad Pitt's "Make It Right" opens LEED-platinum housing complex in Kansas City

2013-11-11T15:50:00-05:00

Make It Right, an organization that helps communities rebuild after environmental or economic disasters, opened its most recent project in Kansas City, Missouri this past Saturday. The project focused on the abandoned and badly damaged Bancroft School plot, renovating the school building into LEED Platinum apartments, and constructing new homes on the grounds (designed by local BNIM Architects). The community complex also includes an auditorium, gym, computer lab and public gardens.

Originally founded by Brad Pitt in response to the alarmingly slow rate of reconstruction in post-Katrina New Orleans, Make It Right uses urban acupuncture tactics to help damaged cities recuperate. According to Director of Innovation Tim Duggan, projects like the Bancroft School can help "[transform] the focal point in a blighted neighborhood into a catalyst for redevelopment. And we believe this can be a model for communities around the country".

Since its founding in 2007, Make It Right ha...

The Uses of Daylight

2012-05-14T15:45:00-04:00

For retailers, daylight offered one additional advantage the advertisements did not mention: the implication of moral virtue. Large department stores were described as cesspools of fraud, filth, poor working conditions, child labor, anti-competitiveness, potential press censorship (because of their advertising clout), disease, drunkenness, savagery, prostitution, suicide and darkness. A well-lit interior, it was said, could do much to counter such negative associations.

Earlier this year on Places, Keith Eggener assessed the career of the now forgotten early 20th-century Kansas City architect Louis Curtiss, and argued that Curtiss's obscurity has less to do with intrinsic merit than with the politics of professional reputation. In a new article examining the Boley Building — a department store which featured one of the first glass curtain walls in America — he makes good on his claim that Curtiss's legacy deserves new attention.

Brad Pitt’s foundation to help redevelop Bancroft School

2012-02-21T14:31:00-05:00

A bond forged in storm-ravaged New Orleans between actor Brad Pitt and a local architecture firm is bearing fruit in Kansas City — and may show the path forward to reusing dozens of empty schools. The long-closed Bancroft School at 4300 Tracy Ave. will be renovated into affordable apartments and a community center with the aid of the Make It Right Foundation founded by Pitt...

The Midwestern Maybeck

2012-02-07T05:46:00-05:00

A dandy bedecked in flashy all-white outfits and a pince-nez, chain-smoking custom-made cigarettes that he ordered from a New York manufacturer in lots of 10,000... an early devotee of the motorcar, president of the local Automobile Club, and a notably fast and reckless driver... He paid his rent in gold coins, before moving to an opulently furnished, Oriental-themed downtown Kansas City apartment/studio building of his own design.

Why is Louis Curtiss so much less celebrated than Bernard Maybeck?

On Places, Keith Eggener examines the career of the Kansas City architect, "designer of some of the earliest buildings in the world to employ caisson foundations, rolled steel columns and glass curtain-walls," who nonetheless remains a relatively obscure figure, well outside the canon of architectural history.