Associate Principal Ashley Rao, AIA LEED AP CPHC  presented on Mass Timber in Practice at the AIA Philadelphia COTE meeting.

“Ashley Rao will present case studies from Leers Weinzapfel Associates’ award-winning mass timber projects – the John W. Olver Building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Arkansas Stadium Drive Residence Halls. These projects explore innovative uses of wood in building design, focusing on mass timber and cross-laminated timber (CLT), and embody the aesthetic, environmental, and structural strengths of wood as a building material.” – AIA Philadelphia COTE

Learn more about John W Olver Design Building here

Learn more about Adohi Hall here

The project reuses and adds to a vacant 1960s library in the heart of the medical school quad, transforming it into a vibrant administrative and social center for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a communal hub for the north campus. Part of a wider campus renewal plan, metrics show the project is close to net zero energy use.

The building was stripped to its columns and slabs to remove hazardous materials in the existing library walls before construction could begin. As a reused concrete structure in a cold climate, the choices of highly insulated terra-cotta-clad walls, triple glazed windows, and a photovoltaic canopy created a building with low embodied energy that approaches net zero energy usage. The facade system is first-of-its-kind in the US, comprising multiple advanced technologies including vacuum insulated, panels, krypton filled triple glazing, metal mesh integral shading, and toggle-held structural glazing (2″ IGUs).

Learn more here

Boston Society for Architecture did a profile on Associate Zhanina Boyadzhieva, AIA Associate at Leers Weinzapfel Associates, showcasing her journey through architecture.

“I was interested in the arts from an early age, and would often put an artistic spin on my homework assignments, such as when I embellished my 8th grade essay with a paper model to frame it. Math came easily to me; my father is a math professor. In Bulgaria, where I come from, students typically choose their career path before applying to universities. I was in 10th grade when I figured that architecture could be an interesting mixture of both art and math.”

-Zhanina Boyadzhieva

See BSA Profile here

We are delighted to look toward the future in this post-pandemic era, and to expand our leadership group to meet new challenges.  Please join us in welcoming three new Associate Principals – Ashley Rao, Kevin Bell, and Katia Lucic- who will continue our commitment to architecture and urban design of the highest quality to enrich human experience and strengthen our social fabric.

Ashley Rao, AIA, LEED AP, CPHC
A firm leader with a collaborative design sensibility and exceptional communication skills, Ashley is equally able to articulate design concepts and to engage challenging construction issues.
Kevin Bell, AIA
Kevin leads the firm’s technology integration process, guiding the studio’s digital direction.
Katia Lucic, AIA LEED AP

With broad experience in campus and site planning as well as architecture and interior design, Katia brings a comprehensive view to each of her projects.

Learn more here

“Roslindale Branch, Boston Public Library, MA. A maze-like configuration of double-sided shelving invites exploration and curiosity while still being low enough to see over.” – Library Journal

Built in the 1960s, the 14,885sf Boston’s Roslindale Library is undergoing a complete renovation for the digital age while maintaining a number of its original features.

See feature here

Learn more about the project here

“Now celebrating the 28th year, The American Architectural Awards® are the nation’s highest and most prestigious distinguished building awards program that honor new and cutting-edge design in the United States. This annual program, organized by both our institutions, also promotes American architecture and design to our public audience in the U.S. and abroad. This year, the Museum received a record number of projects for new buildings, landscape architecture, and urban planning from the most important firms practicing in the U.S. and globally.”

-The Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture

This year Anonymous Hall was recognized as a Honorable Mention. This project reuses and adds to a vacant 1960s library in the heart of the medical school quad, transforming it into a vibrant administrative and social center for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a communal hub for the north campus. Part of a wider campus renewal plan, metrics show the project is close to net zero energy use.

Learn more about the project here.

View full list of winners here.

We are excited to announce that Anonymous Hall Dartmouth College has been honored by Fast Company as a part of its 2022 Innovation by Design Awards. The program highlights designers and businesses who are solving the problems of today and tomorrow.

Learn more about Anonymous Hall here

“Dezeen Awards is our annual awards programme, now in its fifth year. It identifies the world’s best architecture, interiors and design, as well as the studios and the individual architects and designers producing the most outstanding work.

Organised by Dezeen, the world’s most popular and influential architecture and design website, Dezeen Awards is the benchmark for international design excellence and the ultimate accolade for architects and designers everywhere.

Leers Weinzapfel has created a lighting scheme for a utility system building at Harvard University.

This District Energy Facility embodies a state-of-the-art, sustainable utility generation system for Harvard University’s expanding Allston campus, providing reliable heating, cooling, and electricity.

Occupying a former railyard, the DEF will soon be surrounded by science/engineering related development, and midrise residences. Technology is put on display day and evening by lighting the vibrant colour-coded equipment and spaces from within: the exterior aluminium fins forming a wrapper around the building’s cubic shape are gently top-lit to maintain their bold form, while a large cylindrical exterior tank is also gently lit, with pre-set colour options for celebrating community events.” – Dezeen Awards

https://www.dezeen.com/awards/2022/longlists/harvard-university-district-energy-facility/

“It’s the only Boston library branch that’s semicircular and the only one with a dome,” says Tom Chung, LWA principal in charge of the project. “We were told the outside was off limits; that’s how much the public really treasures the library.” It also works on an urban level, Chung continues, by hugging a curved street at the neighborhood’s epicenter, right across from its town green. The most substantial exterior intervention was the addition of an exterior patio, which follows the curve of the building. – Metropolis

Read Metropolis Feature here: https://metropolismag.com/projects/leers-weinzapfel-associates-roslindale-library/

“TimberCon 2022, hosted by The Architect’s Newspaper in partnership with the Mass Timber Institute, will foreground exemplary timber projects across North America; identify best-case practices for their assembly; and spotlight emerging technologies within this exciting field. This one day virtual event that shows off the most exciting mass timber projects and technological advancements and includes panels ranging from mass timber’s new heights to timber’s role in net zero carbon goals.” – AN’

Join Principal Tom Chung FAIA, LEED AP, BD+C as a key speaker in The Architect’s Newspaper Timbercon 2022 “Reducing Embodied Carbon through Mass Timber”. This conference will feature exemplary North American timber projects, taking place virtually, September 28th.

Learn more and register: https://timbercon.archpaper.com/