Generator Studio adds three partners

NEW GENERATION: Generator Studio has expanded its work apart from sports to include designing a new amphitheater in Kansas City, Missouri. (Courtesy Generator Studio)

Sports architect Generator Studio has promoted three employees to partners as part of planning for the future of the 15-year-old company, said co-founders Tom Proebstle and Mike Kress.

Christina Franklin, Peter Baird and Andrew Kesel now have ownership in the Kansas City, Missouri firm after being named partners. The moves take effect Jan. 1.

It’s the first time Generator Studio has brought on new partners apart from Proebstle and Kress.

“These three individuals are out there making a difference; they’re known and respected in the sports community,” Proebstle said. “They’ve shown the commitment to evolving our company, which is something Mike and I couldn’t do by ourselves.”

Franklin, Generator Studio’s director of interior design, has been with the firm for four years after working on two dozen boutique hotels for Pacifica Hotels in southern California.

“The work we’ve done now is at a higher level than what we’ve done in the past related to interior design and going the extra mile, where everything seems to work, including the music, the outfits, interior architecture, food and drink and how people are trained,” Proebstle said. “Christina is an expert at that has helped us when we work with (concessionaires), which has made a huge difference.”

Baird, the company’s technical director, is Generator’s longest-tenured employee with 12 years of service. Technical designers work behind the scenes and don’t typically get elevated to partner, but it was important for Proebstle and Kress to recognize Baird’s role for ensuring technical excellence in the design process. Kress said Baird makes sure that the firm’s design work meets code and does all the things technically it has to do to coordinate infrastructure.

“He’s touched every single project of ours, which Mike and I haven’t done,” Proebstle said.

Kesel, director of architecture, has spent nine years at Generator Studio. He manages the daily production schedules, staffing and the company’s financial viability.

“He’s a typical president in the sense that he’s making sure we have enough work to keep the lights on and making sure that our younger staff continues to grow and be challenged and trained and mentored,” Kress said.

Generator Studio now has 30 full timers since Proebstle and Kress launched the practice in 2009. They’ve seen the company grow by 10% over three consecutive years.

Ultimately, Franklin, Baird and Kesel will run the company as Proebstle and Kress eventually transition out of primary ownership. The co-founders are both in their 50s, but said they don’t plan to retire anytime soon.

“We’re still in the fight,” Proebstle said.

Unlike Populous, a competitor and a much bigger company that sold a minority stake to Providence Equity Partners in 2023, Generator Studio is small enough to avoid having to go that succession route, Proebstle said.

“We’re elevating the right people at the right time, which will allow them to thrive and transition in an orderly  to the future of this organization, rather than sell out to a PE firm or get bought by somebody else,” he said.

Generator Studio’s current projects include a retrofit of Memorial Stadium in Seattle, Washington, which could potentially serve as the new home of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Seattle Reign, although no deal has been signed between the team and the city. For the architect, it would be their second NWSL venue after CPKC Stadium, which opened in March for the Kansas City Current.

In addition, Generator Studio has expanded its sports and entertainment portfolio to include Live Nation amphitheater projects in Kansas City and Birmingham, Alabama.

Over the past 15 years, the firm has carved a niche for renovating NHL arenas such as Amalie Arena, Scottrade Center and Xcel Energy Center, plus designing practice facilities for St. Louis Blues and Seattle Kraken.