What does it take to truly understand a building material? You have to see where it begins.

Last month, Leers Weinzapfel Associates in partnership with Auburn University led 30 architecture faculty from 17 states across Alabama and Georgia to experience the mass timber story firsthand. Tracing the path from seeding to structure, the workshop took educators through working timber forests, a high-capacity lumber mill in Troy, AL, and SmartLAM’s manufacturing plant in Dothan, AL to demystify fabrication. We also visited built works to see the material in action – mass timber buildings across typology and size, including our own Environmental Education Building at the Kreher Preserve and Nature Center in Auburn, Alabama.

Another highlight was immersing the group in Auburn University Rural Studio in Newbern and Greensboro, AL where student-built design/build offered fresh inspiration for the faculty’s own design studios.

We’re excited to see these educators take this experience back to the classroom, inspiring future architects to incorporate lower-carbon mass timber into their designs!

“Thank you for such an amazing workshop – it truly opened the door to mass-timber for all of us in attendance. It was truly one of the best conference/workshops I’ve attended in my 30-plus years of teaching.” – Prof. John Ellis, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA

We are excited to share that two of our projects have been recognized by the The American Institute of Architects, whose national awards honor architecture that sets new standards of design excellence, opens new doors, and inspires innovation.

Williams College Davis Center

Architecture Award

The Davis Center manifests the enduring impact of student advocacy for social justice and inclusive community at Williams College. The reimagined 25,800 sf Davis Center nestles a major new addition between the existing, beloved Rice and Jenness Houses to create a unified complex. The project is net-zero operational and embodied carbon, incorporating fossil-fuel free systems, deep-energy retrofit strategies, low-carbon wood structure, and healthy material choices. Pursuing Living Building Challenge Petal Certification, the Davis Center is a bold and vivid expression of Williams’ commitment to cultivating a community that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative.

Learn more

Auburn University Kreher Preserve and Nature Center Environmental Education Building

Education Facility Design Award

Nestled within the 120-acre tract of the Kreher Preserve and Nature Center, the new preschool facility promotes wonder and exploration of the natural world and cultivates a sense of stewardship toward our community and environment. Imagined as an extension of the network of trails throughout the preserve, the preschool is organized along a central “learning trail” spine. Light-filled classroom spaces alternate with a series of open and covered porches that open out into the natural woodlands beyond.

Learn more

We are pleased to announced that Leers Weinzapfel Associates has been recognized by Architect’s Newspaper for the A’N 2026 Best of Practice Award – Northeast (Medium Firm) Category. This award recognizes top-performing firms in the US and how they shape the built environment.

“It’s clear that this firm is producing high quality buildings with a strong point of view. There is a dynamism to their higher education projects.”—Isabel Ling

See announcement here

Our four generations of LWA women – from Jane Weinzapfel, FAIA (a pioneering firm founder), Ashley Rao AIA, LEED AP, Phius CPHC (newest Principal), Zhanina Boyadzhieva, AIA (mid-career leader), to Maryam Karime, AIA (an emerging professional) – shared their unique lessons from navigating careers and uncertainties. Jane shared her journey as a pioneering firm founder and highlighted the values of trust, Ashley offered strategies for growth by looking sideways for community, Zhanina emphasized the gifts of being an outsider and achieving balance as a working mother, and Maryam shared her story as an emerging professional moving across cultural shifts. Thank you to Women in Design at BSA for hosting this event followed by a thoughtful and meaningful discussion.

Photography: Elisif Brandon

Leers Weinzapfel Associates will be presenting at the Boston Society for Architecture, Womxn in Design (WiD): Four Generations of Women Challenging the Status Quo.

Principal Jane Weinzapfel, FAIA, Principal Ashley Rao, AIA, LEED AP, Phius CPHC, Associate Zhanina Boyadzhieva, AIA and Architect Maryam Karime, AIA will be presenting their “Four Generations of Women Challenging the Architecture Status Quo” presentation at the BSA Space on May 27. They will each be sharing personal insights on navigating career milestones and cultural shifts – through motherhood, licensure, health, and more.

“Four generations of women in architecture—a pioneering firm founder, a next-generation principal, a mid-career design leader and equity activist, and an emerging professional—come together for an honest conversation about identity, leadership, and defining success on your own terms. Each panelist will share personal insights on navigating career milestones and cultural shifts—through motherhood, licensure, health, and more. Representing a broad spectrum of identities and lived experiences, the speakers will reflect on what it means to lead with authenticity in an evolving profession. This powerful session offers real stories, practical strategies, and fresh perspective on building flexible, values-driven careers that reflect the full complexity of life and leadership.”

The event is free and open to the public, RSVP Here

Auburn University Environmental Education Building has been selected as a Finalist in the Architizer A+ Awards Higher Education & Research Facilities category! Each year, the online public chooses the Popular Choice Winner and voting will be open until May 15 at midnight PT. Popular Choice Voting is now open, please vote & share here

Auburn University Environmental Education Building Finalist Link here

Category Link here

The Leers Weinzapfel Associates team celebrates the Ribbon Cutting of the newly completed SPHHS HUB at UMass Amherst! On April 30, 2026, University, local and state leaders gathered for a ribbon cutting for the new SPHHS HUB, celebrating the school’s six departments under one roof for the first time.

“Today we celebrate an investment not only in a building, but in the future of public health,” says Chancellor Javier A. Reyes. “By bringing students, faculty, staff and partners together in a space designed for connection, collaboration and innovation, we are strengthening the ties between our campus and the communities we serve—and preparing the next generation of public health leaders to make a lasting impact.”

LWA’s design of the SPHHS HUB creates a unified gathering place for the school—a new core where students can learn, collaborate, access support and advising services, and foster a stronger sense of community.

Learn more about the project here

The recently completed Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science at Cornell University can now been seen on the campus map. Located at the southern gateway to the Ithaca campus and adjacent to one of its world-famous gorges, the new Bowers CIS shapes a precinct of continuous building and open space. The angled “L” configuration of the new building connects to Gates Hall, completed in 2014 by Morphosis, forming an outdoor room for daily use, small gatherings and large ceremonies.

Learn more about the project here

Wood in Architecture Magazine features Auburn University Kreher Preserve & Nature Center Environmental Education Building in an article “Built from the land it stands on”, highlighting the project’s design philosophy and layout, conscientious details and sustainability features, taping into regional forestry and mass timber, and the broader vision beyond recognition.

“The mission of the Kreher Preserve and Nature Center is to promote harmony between nature and human beings, and to teach our youngest children to respect and protect the environment. The whole idea is to defer to the landscape and what is already there.”

– Tom Chung, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C as quoted in Wood in Architecture

See article here on pages 38-40

LWA’s Layla Ni & Maryam Karime, AIA, joined the METROPOLIS inaugural Arch30 Circle event in NYC, speaking with like-minded individuals celebrating innovation, collaboration, and professional growth.