We are excited to announce that the Kreher Preserve & Nature Center Environmental Education Building has been recognized as a WoodWorks 2026 Wood in Architecture Award Winner. This annual award program recognizes design teams using wood in innovative ways that positively impact the environment, occupants, and communities throughout the U.S, that celebrate excellence and innovation in mass timber, heavy timber, light-frame, and hybrid building design. Kreher Preserve & Nature Center Environmental Education Building was one of eight projects nation-wide to be selected for this honor.

“Described as a ‘little jewel box,’ this 4,989-square-foot Type V-B building is comprised of light-filled classroom spaces, an administrative area, and a series of open and covered porches that allow activities to spill out into the surrounding forest. The structure’s spatial arrangement embraces the landscape, and wood’s natural materiality and accessibility within the building itself invite student engagement and encourage connection with the trees outside. This project demonstrates that design succeeds when the location and structure work together to inspire learning. The Environmental Education Building provides a hub for the community—a place for education, rest and relaxation, and connection with nature.” – WoodWorks

See project here

See winning features here

The Architect’s Newspaper features Cornell University Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, featuring the building’s facade, “ribbons of punch windows, animated by sculptural metal fins in four configurations that create illusion of wavelike, rippling motion across the facade”. The building links to Gates Hall and creates a campus precinct.

See feature here, page 36: https://www.archpaper.com/digital-issue/may-june-2026/ 

We are pleased to announce that The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies has recognized the Cornell University Ann S. Bowers  College of Computing and Information Science for the International Architecture Award 2026 program, with an Honorable Mention in the Schools and Universities category.

The International Architecure Awards recognize new and cutting-edge design around the world. Now in its 21st year, it is the oldest and most prestigious distinguished global building awards program. This award program promotes international architecture and design to our world-wide public audience and supported by Global Design News.

See project here

We are excited to share that Harvard Science Center Public Space Transformation & Teaching Labs is a 2026 DNA Paris Award Winner in the Educational and Sports Category.

The project respects Sert’s urbanistic vision and preserves the building’s structural backbones while fully transforming its interiors to meet current pedagogy and sustainable focus. The goals were to 1) create an inviting, comfortable, and engaging entry and public experience and 2) reflect current pedagogy and student life which emphasize the social/study nature of learning. The renovation adds new flexible teaching labs, classrooms, and offices emphasizing science on display. New alcoves, lounges, balconies with laptop bars, and curated seating areas attract users and the public at large.

See project and award details here

We are excited to announce that we have been selected for inclusion in Architizer’s feature, “100 Best Architecture Firms in the United States.

The list features firms for their exceptional contributions to the built environment and achievements in the Architizer A+ Awards program.

See feature here

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