Kinesiology Building Wins AIA Detroit Honor Award

University of Michigan’s Kinesiology Building was awarded a 2023 AIA Detroit Honor Award for Historic Restoration. The jury commended the project for exploring opportunities to transform existing conditions into new spatial experiences.

Ballinger provided integrated architecture, engineering, and interior design services for the 245,000 SF building, originally designed by Albert Kahn. With local firm, TMP Architecture, we devised a design for the 105-year-old building that involved replacing an inner courtyard with a sky-lit infill. Wrapped in curving staircases and overlooked by breakout balconies, this new Commons encourages collaboration, and enables interdisciplinary work. The lowest level of the infill accommodates the high-tech requirements of researchers investigating mobility, such as lofty ceilings for motion capture cameras and overhead harnesses, along with recessed floor pits for equipment and vibration isolation. The aggregate of these adaptive reuse efforts is a stunning and innovative home for one of the fastest-growing disciplines on the University’s campus.