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Missouri Botanical Garden guests will soon be treated to a new $94 million visitors center inspired by native plants and foliage. The Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center will open its doors to the public at a grand opening ceremony Saturday with free admission all weekend. The 94,000-square-foot center features a new lobby, an expanded gift shop, ticketing station, auditorium, meeting rooms and updated restaurant.

“Wow.” Missouri Botanical Garden president Peter Wyse Jackson says he heard the word over and over from donors and employees at preview parties this week for the new, $100 million Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center. “People weren’t just saying it,” said Wyse Jackson. “It was the whole sense of place. Their garden has been enhanced and strengthened, because it fits so well into the garden’s landscape.”

UC Berkeley is taking another step forward in addressing the crisis of available and affordable housing for current students. Construction will begin later this month on the Albany Village Graduate Student Apartments, a community that will be across the street from the existing University Village family housing in the city of Albany, about three miles from campus.

Ayers Saint Gross has played a pivotal role in the development of Wadi AlFann (Valley of the Arts), a permanent desert art venue that will be located in AlUla in Saudi Arabia. The site was commissioned by the Royal Commission for AlUla and is envisioned to be a global destination where visitors can experience monumental works of land art.

At Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, a $19 million renovation has put Fribley Commons squarely back on the campus dining map. A few things that set Fribley apart in terms of design and layout include innovative ventilation solutions that helped the building earn LEED Silver certification, a labor-efficient platform supporting multiple stations and a station with a focus on plant-based menu items.

For Amber Wendland, great design and planning starts with the voices of a community.

The design concept by the Ayers Saint Gross architect firm includes rotating the track by 30 degrees. "The reason for doing that is ... because when you turn the track, (land becomes) available. We build roads around it and get utilities to it. So, it becomes much more desirable parcels for community development," said Glenn Birx, vice president of Ayers Saint Gross.

The three-year, $65 million project has transformed the old Language and Literature Building from an eyesore outside and what Berman called a “health hazard” inside to a sleek, light-filled, state-of-the-art facility able to hold its head alongside the campus’ newest additions.

Clark University today broke ground on the Center for Media Arts, Computing, and Design, the planned home for the Becker School of Design & Technology, the Department of Computer Science, and programs within the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

As evidenced by a doubling in daily visitations from two years ago, the student body of Case Western Reserve University is making good use of the newly renovated and expanded Fribley Commons, located in the South Residential Village area of the CWRU campus.

At Ayers Saint Gross, we know that everything we achieve is a result of our creative and hard-working team. We are grateful to all of our employee-owners for sharing their dedication and talent to help us grow and push forward.

Architecture and planning centers on human experience and bringing people together. Few firms have structured their office around these ideas like Ayers Saint Gross.

Plans for a new interdisciplinary academic building on the Clark University campus are progressing.

The new $100 million Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center project at the Missouri Botanical Garden continues, and construction of the main entrance should be finished by the end of summer, with the event center completed by the end of this year.

There are a handful of major developments set to break ground in the coming year that will change what Charlotte looks like. We’ve rounded up the biggest ones here.

As part of Catholic University’s commitment to sustainability and healthy workplaces, the University is seeking LEED gold environmental certification for the construction, as well as silver certification as a WELL building. WELL certification means a structure is built to enhance the users’ physical, emotional, and mental health.

Atrium Health provided new details Tuesday on plans for its billion-dollar “innovation district” surrounding the city’s future medical school, including the hospital system’s request for $75 million from the city and county. Plans for the district include a mix of research facilities, residential buildings and retail shops surrounding the med school.

For many design professionals, architecture is more than the final product. It is a language, a process of creating spaces for people, and a representation of what we value as a culture. What is good and appropriate in one context may not work in another.

Johns Hopkins broke ground on two major Homewood campus construction projects this month—the Hopkins Student Center on the east side of campus and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute building on the west side.

Senior student Tamara Marshall, a resident assistant for the fifth floor, absolutely loves living in the new hall. “I don’t really have expectations when I wander into things, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I was shocked! I love the study rooms and comfy couches. The design is really good.” She went on to express that not only were the suites designed with creatives in mind, but also young adults.

Howard Community College is erecting a new $102 million building on its Columbia campus to replace a pair of aging facilities. The college recently broke ground on its new Mathematics and Athletics Complex. Construction on the "fused" facility, which will serve as a home to the school's math and athletics programs, will begin later this summer and is expected to conclude in fall 2024.

Architect and Principal Eric Moss’ work has shown how architecture can elevate experience and embody mission. After a 34-year career at Ayers Saint Gross, Eric is retiring from the firm in June of 2021.

Today, The American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association announced the 2021 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards winners, honoring five libraries in the United States that exemplify "design achievement, including a sense of place, purpose, ecology, environmental sustainability, and of history," according to an AIA press release.

The design team and university community shared a vision that Hayden Library needed to transform from a warehouse of books into a place for people while simultaneously celebrating the building’s historic legacy.

As a resilient, employee-owned design firm, Ayers Saint Gross is always looking toward the future. We embrace change, overcome obstacles, and grow together.

The Archinect staff scoured Pinterest to find their current favorite libraries and reading spaces.

This week, after reviewing proposals from 10 design teams, the state of Maryland selected Baltimore’s Ayers Saint Gross to lead a team that will design a new home for the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, the second leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.

Clark will partner with an all-star design combination of Ayers Saint Gross and Robert A. M. Stern Architects to build the facility.

Construction has begun on a 165,600-square-foot lab building at Arsenal Yards in Watertown, a mixed-use project by Boylston Properties to revamp the former Arsenal Mall.

2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. While these challenges are never far from our minds, as the year draws to a close, we look too for moments of celebration. This year, Ayers Saint Gross projects were honored with more than 27 design awards, including 11 from the AIA and 4 from the ASLA.

Modified plans bolster connectivity, both within the building and to nearby spaces on the Homewood campus and within the community.

The quality of the submissions has rarely been stronger or more timely.