Architect: CannonDesign
Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Completion Date: 2024
CannonDesign has delivered a new student center for Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo. The design of the building employs references to the region’s nature and landscapes. Supported by a GFRC plinth that emulates local bedrock, the building’s glazed upper floors are shaded by gold-painted aluminum fins with cut-outs resembling foliage. The new student center replaces a disused midcentury predecessor, and is centrally located on WMU’s campus.
Between its north and south entrances, the new student center negotiates a roughly 30-foot grade change. Because of this, the entrances open to different floors.
The building’s podium is clad in textured GFRC panels to emulate western Michigan’s natural shale bedrock. The firm decided against using real shale because of its brittleness and tendency to apart. The panels were manufactured with rough vertical striations and finished in a charcoal color to approximate the appearance and texture of stone.
Above the podium are two floors wrapped by glass curtain wall. To shade these elevations, CannonDesign applied vertical aluminum fins. These panels were designed with foliage-inspired cut-outs, allowing dappled light to enter the interior. Using digital tools, the firm optimized the orientation of the fins to reduce solar heat gain and privilege views of the surrounding campus.
The combination of dark-colored GFRC and gold aluminum represent the WMU school colors—black and gold.
Early in the design phase the architects polled current WMU students for feedback on the spaces students used most in the existing student center as well as to gauge their desire for new spaces and features in the upcoming building. With the goal of creating a building that is welcoming and inclusive of all students, the firm also engaged a DEI consultant for the project.
Because the polled students were projected to graduate prior to the completion of the new student center, CannonDesign also sought input from younger students attending public schools in Kalamazoo.
“If you’re a public school student in Kalamazoo, your college tuition to any Michigan state university is paid for… a lot of these students matriculate to Western Michigan University. So we went into third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms and asked those students what they would want because they are literally freshman this year,” said Tom Hanley, senior design architect at CannonDesign.
One major feature of the project’s inclusive design intent is a large central staircase, atrium, and gathering space that cuts through the building’s three floors. As students climb the staircase, they encounter spaces for study and socialization located adjacent to the stairs and on landings. The stairwell is lit from above by a large skylight.
Owing to its construction from cedar wood panels, the architects refer to the central stair and gathering space as the building’s “cedar heart.”
A large sitting circle was included along the staircase to provide for both informal gathering as well as live performances.
“Many of the gathering spaces you see are orthogonal—you sit in a row and have to turn to have a conversation. By having it concave or convex out, we have created a more activating environment,” said Darren Poon, senior project designer at CannonDesign.
Across its three floors, the student center is replete with programming, including restaurants, dining halls, staff offices, student meeting rooms, and more. These features are meant to engage individuals as well as the university’s numerous student organizations.
“Our client shared with us that 70 percent of all the space bookings in the new student center are for registered student organizations whereas the previous percentage was 45 to 48. So students really do feel like this is their space,” added Hanley.
Project Specifications
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- Architect: CannonDesign
- Associate Architect: Hobbs+Black Architects
- Client: Western Michigan University
- Civil Engineer: Beckett and Raeder
- MEP Engineer: Peter Basso Associates
- General Contractor: Walbridge
- Aluminum Shades: Clover Architectural Products
- DEI Consultant: Renee Wallace
