Green Bay Bullfrogs New Ballpark Update

Downtown Community Green Space

Our message at the 2010 Baseball Winter Meetings was pretty direct – “The ballpark of the future will be smaller, multi-purpose, economically and environmentally sustainable.”  The proposed new ballpark for the Green Bay Bullfrogs is all of the above.

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When Pendulum Studio was selected by the Bullfrogs to design the new ballpark, the first order of business was choosing a great site.  Although there were a number of sites in consideration, when we arrived at this tiny six acre brownfield parcel in downtown Green Bay, we knew our search was over.  The site is bordered by the Fox River to the East, a 200-foot wide river inlet to the North, and Mason Street bridge to the south.

The ballpark design focuses on “right-sizing” the facility to maximize natural site amenities including views to the Fox River and the downtown skyline from inside the ballpark.  The incorporation of a generous double-sided grass berm, kid’s fun zone, plaza level wood deck, and a second story banquet pavilion encourages community use during game day and non game day events at the river’s edge.  The left field river inlet will feature boat slips in a second phase to accommodate game day boat traffic and a “boat-up” drive-in movie screen attached to the back of the scoreboard.

 

Fox River & Inlet Aerial View
Aerial View Above Mason Crossing The Fox River
Left Field Power Alley/Grass Seating Berm
3rd Base Entry View
Outfield Entry - View To Playing Field

Small Ballpark With Big Features

As fans pass through one of three secure entry points pictured above, they will have the option of enjoying ballpark features that include the bullpen bar down the left field line, loge boxes behind the left field dugout, dugout club seating behind home plate, and the Bullfrog upper deck down the right field line.  Rather than focusing on maximizing the number of fixed seats like most traditional stadiums, our design focus is on maximizing diversity in seating inventory which increases team revenue potential.  Although we have incorporated a number of traditional ballpark features in our design, our site specific and contextual approach to this ballpark makes it far from cookie cutter, it will be one of a kind.

 

Bull Pen Bar - Left Field Line
Loge Box View - Concourse Approach
Field View Of Loge Box & Dugout Press Box
Right Field Upper Deck View
Right Field Plaza View
View From Field - Home Plate
West Entry Elevation

East Village Phase One Breaks Ground

Pendulum Studio - Aerial Rendering

New market rate urban housing takes form in downtown Kansas City’s East Village

East Village is a new residential/mixed –use neighborhood located at the northeast corner of the downtown loop in Kansas City, MO.   Swope Community Builders retained Pendulum Studio to design an urban master plan aimed at revitalizing this nine-block area currently dominated by surface parking lots. The first phase of this development is the East Village Apartments, a fifty-unit, four-story residential building designed to attract citizens that work within the loop to live downtown.

The exterior design aesthetic of this building is driven by the desire to diffuse the negative connotations typically associated with market rate urban housing – i.e. unsafe and low-income.  The series of brick panels along the main entry façade work to establish an overall sense of security at the pedestrian level.  Graceful outdoor decks on levels two through four allow residents to safely connect with the outdoors from within their living unit.  The stucco reliefs set behind the brick panels are intentionally soft in color and texture adding hierarchy and shadow to the building façade.

General Project Information

Client:                         Swope Community Builders

Budget:                        $8,000,000.00

Finance:                     U.S. Bank/MHDC

Architect:                   Pendulum Studio LLC

Structural:                  Dubois Consultants

Civil Engineer           Taliaferro & Browne, Inc.

MEP Engineer:         BGR Consulting Engineers

Contractor:                 JE Dunn

Construction on this project began in November of 2010 and is scheduled to be complete by the fall of 2011.  We will post photos of the building progress on this blog monthly.  If you are interested in tracking the stages of building construction please subscribe to our blog by clicking the button in the upper right column of this page.

Pendulum Studio - Main Entry Rendering
Foundation Walls and Drainage Tiles Under Way