We are thrilled to share that Harvard District Energy Facility Received BSA’s Harleston Parker People’s Choice Award 2024!

The Harleston Parker Medal was established in 1921 in memory of Boston architect J. Harleston Parker. It is the BSA’s highest honor as a recognition of “the most beautiful piece of architecture, building, monument, or structure built in the metropolitan Boston area in the past 10 years.” Recognizing the public’s appreciation of beauty in architecture may vary from jury’s decisions, so each year the BSA seeks the general public’s input by voting on the selected finalists.

We are humbled and honored that the public chose DEF for this award. The project was the first new building to be completed on the Allston campus, therefore carrying the responsibility of setting a high standard of quality and design as well as of creating a visible demonstration of sustainable practice in building, landscape, and storm water management. Flexibility and innovation were key goals for the design of the project, which provides chilled water, hot water, and electricity to the new campus.

The Kreher Preserve and Nature Center Environmental Education Building at Auburn University and Davis Center at Williams College have received the 2025 Chicago Athenaeum Green Good Design Awards.

The Green Good Design awards celebrates projects “that have forwarded exceptional thinking and inspired greater progress toward a more healthier and more sustainable universe.” – Chicago Athenaeum

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.

Nestled within the Kreher Preserve & Nature Center (KPNC), the new environmental education building promotes wonder and exploration of the natural world and cultivates a sense of stewardship toward our community and environment. The building incorporates cross laminated timber (CLT) produced in near-by Dothan, Alabama with southern yellow pine from the area as a demonstration of this new, sustainable building product with great economic potential for the region’s forestry-based industries.

Principal Andrea P. Leers, Principal Tom Chung and Associate Principal Katia Lucic are in Paris this week at the Forum Bois International Wood Construction Forum. We are showcasing our recent Mass Timber projects at the Galerie de l’Architecture Bois/Biosourcée du XXIe siècle. The exhibit features the firm’s work including the John W. Olver Design Building, Adohi Hall, Environmental Education Building, and Museum of Forest Service History. 

Leers Weinzapfel Associates will be exhibiting recent Mass Timber projects at the International Wood Construction Forum at the Galerie de l’Architecture Bois/Biosourcée du XXIe siècle, in Paris, from February 26 to 28, 2025. The exhibit will feature the firm’s work including the John W. Olver Design Building, Adohi Hall, Environmental Education Building, and Museum of Forest Service History, highlighting sustainable and innovative features. 

May your year be filled with abundance of creativity and joy!

Join Leers Weinzapfel Associates at the 2025 Arkansas Mass Timber Conference on February 7-9th. Principal Tom Chung, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C will be giving the closing keynote and tours will be given of Adohi Hall, University of Arkansas, the first large-scale mass timber residence hall at its completion in 2019.

Hosted by the Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design, University of Arkansas and ISG, the conference explores Mass Timber trends and solutions, tours of mass timber facilities and networking with industry leaders.

Register and Learn More Here

Williams College Davis Center has been awarded Honorable Mention in the  Social Impact category and Boston Public Library — Roslindale Branch has been awarded an Honorable Mention in the Libraries category for Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design 2024.

The Architect’s Newspaper speaks directly to leaders in architecture and design with news, products, developments, trends, and updates. With our magazine, AN Interior, our outreach to the design community has grown exponentially.

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National Museum of Forest Service History Conservation Legacy Center is featured in Building Design + Construction. The museum will educate the public about the history and ongoing conservation work of the United States Forest Service (USFS). The design is inspired by the qualities of these forests as valuable recreational and economic resources throughout history; it also echoes features of the local surrounding mountain landscape.

Read feature here

Tom S. Chung, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C  is one of the panelists for “Designing the Future: Diversity, Representation, and Innovation in Architecture and Design” at Wentworth Institute of Technology. He among many other architects and designers will be discussing the critical role of diversity in the architecture industry.

The event will take place in the first floor Accelerate Space in our project completed in 2019, Center for Engineering, Innovation & Sciences (Link to WIT CEIS project)

Register Today

Principal Tom Chung recently presented at the Portland Museum of Art’s Maine Mass Timber Conference. Tom along with many leading experts discussed the Future of Mass Timber Technology highlighting the economic opportunities and environmental benefits for the Northeast.

The conference consisted of “thought-provoking presentations from pioneers, change makers, and visionaries [to] gain insights into the latest advancements, innovations, impacts, and real-world applications shaping the future of sustainable construction.” Tom presented a “Timber Talk” that was focused on the Kreher Preserve & Nature Center, Environmental Education Building in Auburn, AL. Constructed from timber harvested on-site, the Environmental Education Building celebrates the potential of wood – aesthetically, economically, and environmentally.

Learn More about the conference here