Two early experiences shaped Andrea’s approach to architecture- her studies at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Fine Arts, then led by Louis I. Kahn, after her degree from Wellesley College, and her year in Japan as an NEA-Japan U.S. Friendship Commission Fellow. When she and Jane Weinzapfel met in their internship years, they discovered they shared values and the desire to establish a firm with the goal of creating a bold and refined architecture for the public realm. Dedicated to seeking cross-cultural connections, Andrea is an internationally recognized leader in urban and campus design, and building for higher education. She is equally known for her expertise in the design of award-winning courthouses.

In parallel with her practice, Andrea has had a continuous teaching career. She is former Director of the Master in Urban Design Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she was Adjunct Professor in Architecture and Urban Design. Her previous appointments were at Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia. Internationally she has taught at Tokyo Institute of Technology, National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, and the University of Paris, Sorbonne. Andrea was a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, and she lectures and participates in symposia and design juries throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Andrea’s work has earned her the recognition of the Boston Society of Architects Award of Honor. She is currently Commissioner for the Mayor’s Boston Civic Design Commission, and is a member of the University of Washington Architectural Commission. She serves on the U.S. General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service National Register of Peer Professionals.

A native of Tucson Arizona and distinguished alumna of the University of Arizona, Jane came to the Boston area shortly after her studies. While working as an intern architect, she met Andrea Leers, and after several years with a large architecture and planning firm, they founded Leers Weinzapfel Associates together. Jane is a design leader in campus academic facilities and campus design in general, and has a special expertise in award-winning infrastructure and transportation design. Dedicated to the craft and technology of design, she has led many of the firm’s investigations of new materials and systems.

Jane has been a Visiting faculty member at MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning and at the University of Arizona College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, where she was on the Dean’s Advisory Committee. In 2002 she was a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome. She lectures and participates on design juries widely throughout the United States, Italy, and the Middle East. She has been a Design Critic and Lecturer at several universities in the U.S. and abroad.

Jane’s work and achievements have been recognized with the Boston Society of Architects Award of Honor. She was a board member and past president of the Boston Society of Architects. She is a Board of Overseers member and former Trustee of The Boston Architectural College and is a Trustee and Former Board Chair of Boston by Foot. She has served on the Mayor’s Boston Transportation Advisory Committee and the Mayor’s Government Center Plaza Task Force in Boston, MA. Jane also served on the Massachusetts Executive Office of Community Development Designer Selection Board.

A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Josiah joined Leers Weinzapfel Associates in 1986 and became a Principal in 1998. Josiah leads the firm’s community and civic projects giving special attention to how they relate to their historic contexts and our sustainable future. He leads the firm’s environmental study group, Green Monsters, and participates in a regular sustainable design retreat with other AIA Firm Award winning architects with a mission to lead the profession towards sustainable awareness. Josiah’s dedication to both the conceptual and pragmatic dimensions of architecture have made him a particularly successful designer of complex renovations and additions. He has led the design of several award-winning civic projects in Boston and beyond.

From 2006 to 2011 Josiah taught a professional development seminar entitled “The New American Courthouse” at the Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education Program. He is the author of several articles on courthouse design and was the main author and Project Manager of Commonwealth of Massachusetts Courtroom Design Guidelines Report. Josiah is currently on the Designer Selection Panel of the Massachusetts School Building Authority, and was the former Commissioner of Design for the Boston Society of Architects. He previously served on the BSA’s Honors and Awards Committee as both chair and member, and on the Harleston Parker Committee, a group awarding the “most beautiful building in Boston”. He currently serves on the Town of Cohasset Alternative Energy Committee.

Tom’s journey from Seoul, Korea, where he was born and raised in his early childhood, to the US where he grew up and was educated gives him a deep multi-cultural understanding of design in its cultural context. He views Architecture as one of the last remaining Renaissance profession in its confluence of art, culture, technology, and business. Educated at the University of Virginia and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Tom is a dynamic and talented design leader with the ability to inspire others. In his over 20 years with the firm, he has been the primary designer for a number of the firm’s most prominent award-winning projects. He has an exceptional talent for leading the design of complex projects with an unusual ability to listen and transform the clients’ expressed needs into a compelling architectural expression. Within the studio, he is a mentor and advisor to the next generation of young designers.
As adjunct faculty, Tom has taught design studios at Northeastern University School of Architecture and Wentworth Institute of Technology, exploring architecture, urban design and advanced timber technologies. Tom speaks nationally on advanced timber design and serves on design reviews and award juries throughout the country. He is a Trustee of Boston By Foot, a non-profit educational organization that promotes walking tours of Boston-its history and architecture, and serves on the Design Professionals Advisory Council at Wentworth Institute of Technology. More information about Tom can be found in his BSA Profile interview here

Winne has taken an unusual route to the field of architecture, passing first through training and practice as a physician in Canada with a degree from McGill University School of Medicine. She acknowledged her first passion for design returning to Yale where she was an undergraduate to complete a Master of Architecture.

A talented and highly effective project leader and team manager with over 25 years experience, Winne has developed an expertise for managing technically demanding complex projects and has led several of our largest higher education projects. Many clients appreciate her insightful intelligence, depth of experience and ability to coordinate a large team of consultants from programming through construction with exceptional rigor and efficiency.

Winne has lectured on classroom design at the SCUP 2012 North Atlantic Regional Conference, and SCUP 2013 in Montreal. Her publications include co-authorship of the new chapter on Project Teams in the 15th Edition of the AIA Handbook and an article describing the new MGH Russell Museum, “A Bright New Face”, in Health Care Design Magazine.

A graduate of Cornell University, Jim has been with the firm since its inception becoming the key technical and construction resource for all of our projects. He has been most involved with projects in the public realm, including recreation and athletic centers, courthouses, police stations, and complex renovations.

Jim provides the firm with a high level of technical coordination, in-house specifications, and construction supervision capability. He leads the office Quality Assurance/ Quality Control Committee frequently giving in-office presentations on lessons learned from the field.

He taught in the internship program at Endicott College in Beverly MA, and participated in Portfolio Reviews at Endicott and Wentworth Institute in Boston. Jim coordinated the City of Boston Youth Design program for the firm, as well as the firm’s interns from Cornell, the University of Virginia, and other architecture schools.

Jim has served on the Ethics Committee for the Boston Society of Architects, and was the chair of the Building Committee for the Arlington Street Church.

A graduate of the University of Michigan and native Michigander, Kevin received his Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia where he was a cofounder and editor of the interdisciplinary design and research journal lunch.

Kevin joined Leers Weinzapfel Associates in 2006; bringing with him unique experience in allied fields including graphic design, information technology, and a hands on approach to design and construction. Kevin has five years experience as a graphic artist with the University of Michigan Medical School working on a variety of projects from interactive mapping, extensive print and web work, to temporary and permanent signage. Within the studio, he leads and coordinates digital technologies and their incorporation in the design process. Kevin has been an integral part of award-winning academic and infrastructure projects from the time of his arrival.

Kevin leads frequent studio discussions and instruction related to digital technologies and graphics and has been a guest critic at several area architecture schools.

With over 25 years of experience, Jeffrey is a talented and experienced project leader with an expertise in higher education new building, renovation, and adaptive re-use. He was educated at the Rhode Island School of design in both Fine Arts and Architecture.

Jeffrey joined Leers Weinzapfel Associates in 2008. His prior experience focused on the renovation of architectural landmark buildings, including Alvar Aalto’s Baker House at MIT. Since joining the firm, Jeffrey has led several of the firm’s award-winning university and civic building projects from conceptual phases into the field. His depth of experience and knowledge of materials and their assemblies make him a key member of the Quality Assurance / Quality Control Committee. He has contributed significantly to the firm’s address of the AIA 2030 Challenge.

Jeffrey has lectured on his work at MIT for the Baker House and Simmons Hall at the AIA National Convention and has been quoted in numerous magazines on both projects including Architecture and Metropolis.

Irene joined Leers Weinzapfel Associates in 2007 and has been a pivotal member of the design team on many complex projects. Educated at Yale University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Irene is a highly dedicated project architect with technical expertise in high performance envelope detailing and sustainable design, and extensive experience in higher education and infrastructure projects.  Currently, she is the project architect on the Harvard University District Energy Facility and Umass Amherst Chiller Plant.  She also worked on the recently completed timber-framed Umass Amherst Design Building, the award winning Oak and Laurel Hall Classroom Buildings at the University of Connecticut, the Salem State University Sophia Gordon Performing Arts Complex, and the Collaborative Research Building at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. With a keen interest in exploring new materials and building technologies, Irene is actively involved with our office’s in-house sustainability group which researches and develops sustainability strategies and performs design reviews of current projects.

I love working with creative and passionate people and helping to tell the story behind Leers Weinzapfel’s inventive and complex projects.

Design is everywhere and every aspect of it is constantly evolving – it’s what makes our profession so exciting!

I enjoy transforming ideas to physical products with various given parameters, and challenging myself through the process to be a better architect

As architects, we have the ability to shape the way people interact with the spaces in which they live, work, and socialize. Great design should appear effortless and work to elevate the experience of the users of a building.

A building is a custom solution to a complex problem – a specific site, client, program.  It’s made where it will be used.

“A building’s concept is brought into reality through the details.”

My passion is the relationship between cultural concepts and physical contexts. Architecture is a reflection of a culture at a given time but it is also a powerful tool for reshaping future social patterns and beliefs. It can heal, provoke, question, stimulate, inspire, and transform.

I love architecture because it seeks to connect us more deeply to each other and to our world, through the choreography of material, light, and atmosphere.

Architecture is like doing long run, you don’t stop when you feel tired, you stop when you past the finish line. There’s nothing better than rewarding yourself with a cup of iced tea.

Architecture is about how we comprehend, interpret, and question our place and world; is a complex dynamic process of establishing robust connections both physically and socially; I am keen on it because it gives us an opportunity to optimize our society into a better field with intelligent ways of life.

I never fail to be amazed by our ability as designers to analyze a given problem and nurture our conceptual thoughts into physical solutions. It is for this reason that I welcome both the responsibility and opportunity of shaping our built environment for the better.

As an interior designer, I look to environmental psychology to inform design decisions, and believe it plays an integral role in providing a sense-of-place for the end-user within the built environment.

I strive for a balance between the abstract and technical in all that I make, never forgetting that our hands can be our most powerful tools. From the kitchen to the studio I’ve learned the value of iteration, and that like many things, architecture is both process and product.

As designers and builders of our physical environment, we have a responsibility to respect the land we replace and serve the humanity with the vision of optimism and appreciation for our planet.

I am passionate about all aspects of art and design and am drawn to ways it can play a role in experience through visual story-telling.