The City's "Living Room": Milwaukee Bucks Deer District
The Milwaukee Bucks Deer District has become the City’s “Living Room,” a new epicenter for social life in Milwaukee. Located at the front door of the Fiserv Forum the space was formerly occupied by a parking structure, vacant lots, and 4th Street, which was vacated to make way for the project. The transformed site is now a vibrant place to commune, dine, shop, and celebrate.
The Deer District is designed to provide social benefits by prioritizing access, connection, and elevated experience for as many people as possible. As a whole, the project includes a 2.3-acre public Plaza, three buildings (of 32,000 sf, 31,000 sf, and 2,000 sf) activated by six dining and entertainment tenants, and an all-seasons Beer Garden with semi-covered canopy structure. The Plaza includes extensively landscaped public areas with native trees and plantings, public art, an interactive water feature, and a large central gathering area that is home to festivals and other events year-round, most notably hosting over 65,000 fans to watch the Milwaukee Bucks win the NBA Championship.
The project stitches together surrounding neighborhoods, with gateways at the north and south edges of the Plaza, as well as a pedestrian connector to Old World 3rd Street to the east, providing access and creating dramatic sightlines. Access and activity are fostered both at ground level and above, with indoor-outdoor dining areas adjacent to the Plaza, and at multiple balconies and terraces. The buildings are designed to frame the Plaza and create a “public arena” experience, with tiered views of the center of activity. The building facades are permeable and flexible, with large-scale overhead and sliding doors that open to create spaces that seamlessly connect across the entire District, from exterior to interior. The design of the north building also incorporates a dramatically cantilevered event space, clad in curtainwall. The glass walls project outward toward the Plaza and Forum, creating the sense of being surrounded by the activity of the District for those within the building.
The design approach was centered on implementing strategies to provide social, economic and environmental benefits whenever possible, and to make these positive impacts accessible to all residents of the City. In order to create a destination wholly embraced and democratically utilized, the District’s buildings and outdoor spaces are designed to promote access and equitability; they are connected to the surrounding context in multiple ways; they create a variety of experiential opportunities that are inclusive, functional, authentic and inspirational.
“RINKA faces each case or issue with an innate understanding of not only the architectural and economic ramifications of an issue but more importantly how it would ultimately affect the entire business and the City of Milwaukee.”
Specific selections were made to reduce our environmental footprint and improve the health and wellness of users. Some examples of these selections are: the native plant species in the Plaza, the use of local materials and manufacturers, the buildings’ use of passive daylighting and ample access to fresh air and views, and the connected district that promotes walking, biking and future streetcar access. Economic considerations were also critical to ensuring a project that is and will continue to be a catalyst for development in the City.
The architecture is a modern interpretation of the industrial history of Milwaukee. The structures and outdoor spaces incorporate exposed steel framing, glass, masonry, wood, board-formed concrete, and weathered metal panels. The Beer Garden and pedestrian connector are enhanced with a semi-covered steel canopy that allows occupants to enjoy the Beer Garden year-round. The Beer Garden speaks to the location of the Deer District between the historic breweries of Milwaukee (Pabst and Miller to the west, Schlitz to the north, and Blatz to the east) and celebrates the long and proud brewing history of Brew City. The material palette and a large-scale mural pay respect to Milwaukee’s industrial past, while the massive media wall and ETFE roof panels look firmly to the future. Materials and products were selected with sustainability in mind, throughout the project.
Beer Garden Rendering
Our team was energized by the potential for this project to have an enormous impact on the City. We sought to maximize this opportunity with architecture that was not only iconic and unique, but also transformative. Architecture that is iconic and unique has the power to inspire, elevate, and motivate us to achieve greater things in our everyday lives. It can act as a beacon, drawing us together and in turn generating new energy and excitement. It can act as a landmark that defines a memory and inspires us to document and share our experience of a place with others. It was our team’s goal to design a place that was not only iconic and unique, but that also went a step further to truly transform the City and neighborhood, as well as the way in which we gather, celebrate, and play. We strove to think innovatively and propose design solutions that went beyond any existing model for public gathering and entertainment space. We are proud to have designed a place that supports its functions to the highest degree possible and that also provides experiences not available before.
In order to be truly transformative, the architecture also needed be woven into its existing urban fabric with careful intent. It must be timeless, adaptable, and authentic. We designed the Milwaukee Bucks Deer District to be all these things: an inspirational and transformative destination that was sensitive to its context.
The Deer District has emerged as a bustling hub of excitement and energy, becoming the most sought-out destination in Milwaukee for social gathering. And as evidenced by the way the City has been energized by the District, we succeeded in designing a truly transformative place; an inspirational, iconic, and authentic “Living Room” for the City of Milwaukee.
“It’s quite spectacular, this whole plaza around it…They are replicating this in a lot of cities around the league. They’re doing it now in San Francisco, these big huge developments. It’s not just an arena, but it’s a town hall…It’s a gathering place, and that’s what we’re looking forward to post-pandemic.”
