Viets Field – Milwaukee School of Engineering

Client

Milwaukee School of Engineering

Location

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Size

400,000 SF

Completed

2013

MSOE Viets Field is a 210-by-245-foot NCAA competition field built over a three-level urban parking structure on the north edge of the MSOE campus. The field also accommodates rugby and lacrosse. An elevated press box is located over the southeast entry pavilion, separate team rooms are under the field and seating for up to 600 spectators is found along the east field boundary.

The building takes advantage of a 14–foot southeast to northwest slope providing for grade-level field level access at the corner of Milwaukee and Knapp Streets and a full two-story height along the north elevation. The north end of the building also includes 10,000 square feet of commercial space fronting on a public/private park along Water Street.

The Kern Center and the new field complement each other by the way they interact over Knapp Street. The surface of the field and the main floor of the Kern Center ellipse are at the same height, and both slightly above Knapp Street as it slopes down to the west. The resulting perspective creates an outdoor space for the field that is enclosed by the north wall of the Kern Center. In turn, the field acts as a forecourt to the Kern ellipse, preserving views of what has become one of the signature elements of the MSOE campus.