On February 17, Principal Andrea P. Leers, FAIA, founding Principal of Leers Weinzapfel Associates, and prominent architecture photographer Peter Vanderwarker presented on the Romaldo Giurgola’s South End Branch Library in Boston’s South End (1968-1971) which is slated for demolition and rebuilding in the near future. The talk “Requiem for a building: Romaldo Giurgola’s South End Library”, was hosted by Docomomo New England.
We are excited to announce that Davis Center, Williams College is officially ILFI Petal Certified, Leers Weinzapfel Associates first Living Building Challenge certified building! The reimagined 25,800 sf Davis Center is a unified complex with a major new addition nestled between the existing, beloved Rice and Jenness Houses. 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.
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We are excited to announce that Principal Tom S. Chung FAIA, LEED AP BD+C has been appointed as the Inaugural Virginia Stephens March Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair at Auburn University. This appointment honors Virginia Stephens March’s legacy of leadership, excellence and advocacy in architecture—values reflected in Chung’s distinguished career and commitment to advancing the discipline. Tom has been a Professor of Practice in Architecture at Auburn University since 2022 and was Principal-in-Charge for Auburn University’s KPNC Environmental Education Center. We are proud of this outstanding honor and achievement for Tom.
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“In granting the honor, the Pride of Ownership award selection committee, which includes local developers, architects, and realtors, cited the building’s strategic placement on Hoy Road: together with Gates Hall, the complex creates a welcoming and beautiful green space on the campus’s east side. We were also struck by the quiet yet complex simplicity of the facade standing up well to the more provocative design of the Gates building,” the selection committee said. “The two buildings work well together to frame the quad.”
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We are honored to be a finalist for the 2025 Harleston Parker Medal. The Boston Public Library – Roslindale Branch, completed in 2022, is one of four projects selected, recognized by the BSA for its meaningful contribution to the built environment.
A complete renovation of Boston’s Roslindale Branch Library transforms a 1960s building into a neighborhood hub for the digital age with community learning and gathering. Following the geometry of the original building, the open reading space for adults, teens, and children is welcoming, accessible, and “Free To All.” While much of the exterior of the original building remains, a new entry highlighted by a canopy and colorful terracotta baguettes, symbolic of Roslindale’s diverse community, provides universal access. An intimate reading garden is a place of respite in the busy urban setting.
People’s choice voting is open until February 1st. The People’s Choice award is an annual event where the BSA invites the public to vote on the most beautiful piece of architecture in Boston. We appreciate your support of the Boston Public Library – Roslindale Branch
There’s a buzz building around the SPHHS’ brand-new Hub! We are excited to share a Walkthrough of the UMass Amherst School of Public Health & Health Sciences HUB, set to open Spring 2026. Follow along as Dean Anna Maria Siega-Riz steps into the site to see what it takes to make such a transformative project a reality: Here
The HUB creates a unified gathering place for the dispersed School of Public Health & Health Sciences (SPHHS) – a new core where students can learn, collaborate, access support and advising services, and foster a stronger sense of community.
One of the most important and growing schools at the University of Massachusetts, SPHHS is a national leader in finding ways to improve public health and quality of life for all, with a focus on reducing inequities. The 26,800 sf Hub will house team-based learning classrooms, seminar rooms, collaboration spaces, advising offices and at its core, a school-wide Commons space that overlooks and engages with the exterior entry plaza.
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Nestled within the 120-acre tract of the Kreher Preserve and Nature Center Environmental Education Building promotes wonder and exploration of the natural world and cultivates a sense of stewardship toward our community and environment.
“The Kreher Preserve and Nature Center (KPNC), a 120-acre forested tract owned by Auburn University’s College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment has, since its founding some three decades ago, sought to instill a regional spirit of ecological stewardship through outreach programs and public access to its trail system. KPNC’s Environmental Education Building (EEB), completed in December 2024 and designed by Boston-based practice Leers Weinzapfel Associates (LWA), furthers that mission with an expansion of programmable space within a playfully detailed mass-timber structure like a tree house.” – Matthew Marani, Architectural Record
See article here
Auburn University Kreher Preserve & Nature Center Environmental Education Building Receives Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Award in 2025 Wood Design & Building Award Program
Harvard District Energy Facility Receives 2025 Built Design Award
Williams College Davis Center Receives 2025 METROPOLIS’s Planet Positive Award – Honorable Mention
Two Leers Weinzapfel Associates Projects Selected as Finalists for The World Architecture Festival 2025 Awards
Two Leers Weinzapfel Associates Projects Recognized in the 2025 Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Awards and International Architecture Awards
LWA Receives four AIA New England Awards
See more: https://mailchi.mp/c0f791f58dce/leersweinzapfelassociates?e=152a37ce2c
LWA’s team is feeling energized and uplifted from this year’s #AIAWLS! Thank you to the organizers for curating such a rich and vital space for dialogue and connection.
At WLS 2025, Jane Weinzapfel, Ashley Rao, Zhanina Boyadzhieva and Maryam Karime shared their personal stories, representing a broad spectrum of identities and lived experiences and ways in which they’ve built flexible values-driven careers. They were inspired by the thoughtful questions and look forward to reflecting further on all they learned from so many bold, resilient, and empathetic women leaders in design.
“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.”
We are pleased to announce that Williams College Davis Center, Kreher Preserve & Nature Center, Environmental Education Building and Ohio University Chilled Water Plant #3 have all received the Citation Award from the AIA New England 2025 Awards!
Kreher Preserve & Nature Center – Environmental Education Building: Citation Award
“The jury recognized the Environmental Education Building at Kreher Preserve & Nature Center as a delicate and thoughtful intervention that is deeply responsive to its forest setting. Organized as an informal “learning trail,” the building bends around preserved trees, with porches, corridors, and classrooms that extend directly into the landscape.
Its nearly all-wood structure; mass timber, wood siding, and native finishes; creates an architecture that feels inseparable from its environment. Passive strategies such as butterfly roofs, operable clerestories, bioswale stormwater management, and raised foundations minimize impact and reinforce the building’s role as a model for ecological stewardship. As jurors observed, the project demonstrates a beautiful use of materials and form, making the architecture itself a tool for education. Both subtle and engaging, it brings the outside in, offering children and visitors alike a joyful, nature-centered place of learning.” – AIA New England Jury 2025