Photo courtesy Michael Robinson

KRESA Career Connect Campus

Kalamazoo, Mich.

BEST PROJECT

Submitted by: CSM Group

Owner: Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency (KRESA)

Lead Design Firm/Architect: Wightman

General Contractor: CSM Group

Structural Engineer: IMEG Corp.

KRESA Career Connect Campus is a 162,000-sq-ft, centralized career and technical education facility designed to make the building itself a teaching tool.

Housing 23 career pathways, 22 instructional labs and a greenhouse, the campus replaces fragmented programming with realistic, industry-grade environments for students across Kalamazoo County, Mich.

Photo courtesy Michael Robinson

Its exposed structural, mechanical, electrical and IT systems demonstrate how buildings work, while a hybrid mass timber structure introduces students and the regional construction industry to emerging sustainable practices.

The project required specialized learning environments, demanding trade coordination and intricate atrium drywall…