Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency School (KRESA)

The Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency (KRESA), is a world-class career and technical education (CTE) center chose to build a world-class career and technical education facility that would host most of the county’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.

Called the "Career Connect Campus", this new $85M career and technical educational center will serve high-school students and adult learners. It will have a capacity of 1,400 students from private, public and regional school districts who will participate in over 23 programs from auto repair, to welding, machine tooling and culinary skills.

Centralized in Kalamazoo County, the center was developed after years of research, benchmarking tours, industry input and deep collaboration with students, partners and staff. The campus offers specific skill training and industry-recognized credentials for high school students in well-paying, high-demand and high-growth occupations as verified by a four-part labor market analysis. 

Design Vision
A central design mandate was to create an environment that reflected Michigan’s landscape. The team sought abundant daylight, strong indoor-outdoor connections, and the use of sustainable materials - criteria that pointed to mass timber.

Hybrid Mass Timber + Steel Structure
This 2-storey building uses a hybrid structural system featuring exposed 175mm 5-ply CLT decking supported by a steel-braced frame with CMU sheer walls. Steel beams are clad in 19mm 3-ply nanoCLT to visually match the mass timber beams (the smaller purlins being Glulam).

This hybrid approach reduced the building’s embodied carbon while creating a warm, biophilic learning environment intended to promote student well-being and cognitive performance.

The result is a soaring and inspiring environment for experiential learning, delivering both performance and beauty. This sustainable, student-centered design fosters a connection to nature while preparing the next generation for high-demand careers.

The KRESA Career Connect Campus had its Grand Opening in May of 2025.