by Kelly Kapinsky, AIA, LEED AP, and Kalyn Pavlinic, NCIDQ, LEED AP, IIDAYou need a new library, but you can’t close your doors. Good news: large-scale library renovations rarely happen all at once anymore. With limited funding, evolving...
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Academic Planning
After the Move-In: How to Evaluate Whether Your Lab Design Works
A laboratory project isn’t truly finished when occupants move in: Associate Principal Andrea Hardy, AIA, EDAC, shares with Lab Manager that move-in actually marks the beginning of a critical evaluation phase. At this point, organizations can begin to assess whether...
Feature: American Libraries 2026 Design Showcase
American Libraries features Wellesley College's Margaret A. Clapp Library in its list of the year's most impressive new and renovated libraries. The Library Design Showcase is selected from projects across the United States and Canada.The renovation of Clapp Library...
Renewal by Design: Reimagining Clapp Library at Wellesley College
By David Whitehill, AIAMargaret A. Clapp Library, Wellesley, MA. Photos by Marjorie Becker/Accidentally Wes Anderson.At Wellesley College, the Margaret A. Clapp Library has long stood as both a physical and symbolic center of academic life. Originally built in 1909...
Healing, Connecting, Comforting, and Restoring: Designing for Holistic Wellness
By Amanda Vigneau, IIDA, NCIDQVivian A. Kao ’04 Health and Counseling Center, Wellesley, MA. Photo by Marjorie Becker/Accidentally Wes Anderson.At Wellesley College, wellness is considered foundational to student success. For decades,...
TIME: A Portrait of America in 25 Buildings and Monuments
Austin Central Library is highlighted in TIME’s Our America 250 collection. The piece, “A Portrait of America in 25 Buildings and Monuments,” is a curated reflection on how the built environment captures the nation’s identity. The article...
A Library for the Community: Designing Equity into the Montrose Library
By Alyssa Hitt, IIDA, NCIDQ, LFAIn the heart of Houston’s Montrose neighborhood, one of the city’s most vibrant, diverse, and expressive communities, the Freed‑Montrose Neighborhood Library redefines what an equitable public space can be....
A Lehigh for Everyone: Designing for Inclusion at Clayton University Center
By Katie Chambers, AIA, EDAC, LEED APFor seven consecutive years, Lehigh University has been recognized for its leadership in equity and inclusion as a Higher Education Excellence and Distinction Award recipient and a two-time HEED...
Evolving Student-Centered Design at Johns Hopkins: Key Programming Steps
By Matthew Gifford, AIA, LEED AP, and Kalyn Pavlinic, NCIDQ, LEED AP, IIDAThis is part two of a two part series exploring the decade of planning behind the design of Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg Student Center. Read part one, where...
Four Lessons from Renovating at Lehigh University
By Bob Mohr, AIA, LEED APSome architecture projects are destined to challenge standard modes of historic preservation practice. Shepley Bulfinch’s recent work renovating Lehigh University’s Clayton University Center at Packer Hall is one...
Facades+ DC: Mass Timber Shapes a New Social Landscape at JHU
Join Principal Matthew Gifford, AIA, LEED AP, at Facades+ 26 in Washington, DC. He will be joined by Jason Wu, associate, BIG, and Shamil Lallani, senior associate, knippershelbig, to explore the convergence of technical innovation and...
5 Projects That Show Innovative Design Doesn’t Need a Huge Footprint
By David Whitehill, AIAHouston Freed-Montrose Public Library, Houston, TX. Photo by Chris Bacarella.In the world of public architecture and design, blockbuster projects tend to dominate the media and public attention: In 2025, the New York Times reported on twelve...