News

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) honored two Ayers Saint Gross projects with AIA Baltimore Excellence in Design Awards. Greensboro Hall at Ringling College of Art and Design and the Yahentamitsi Dining Hall at the University of Maryland were given honorable mentions in the higher education category.

The University of Texas at El Paso broke ground Thursday morning on a new Liberal Arts Building that will be called the Texas Western Hall. Designed by Ayers Saint Gross, the new building will have larger classrooms, open spaces, and the newest technology for students.

Ayers Saint Gross has been working with the National Aquarium to design a new floating wetland exhibit, Harbor Wetland, which will be installed between piers 3 and 4 in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Scheduled to open next summer, the exhibit will feature a walking dock and a network of floating, manmade “islands” with plants and grasses to attract and provide shelter for native species.  

Planner and Architect Amber Wendland, who works as a lecturer at the University of Maryland, talks about her work in urban and community-based planning as part of this article for the university's website.

For the second year in a row, Ayers Saint Gross ranked among the top five university architecture firms in the country on the Building Design+Construction 2023 Giants 400 Report. The rankings, which are based on 2022 revenue, listed Ayers Saint Gross as #5 out of 170 firms from around the United States.

Shannon Dowling, principal architect and learning environments strategist, was recently recognized with AIA Virginia’s 2023 Award for Distinguished Achievement. The award, which is given annually, recognizes Shannon for her work as well as her advocacy and service within her local community.

Architect Caitlin Brady, AIA, LEED BD+C was recently named a recipient of AIA DC’s Emerging Architect Award, which recognizes proficiency and exceptional accomplishments to the profession by an architect who has been a registered architect for less than 10 years.

Ayers Saint Gross made its first Just Disclosure with the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) in 2019 to share more quantitative data about the social equity and justice issues embedded in who we are and how we practice design. We’re proud to share we’ve recently renewed our disclosure for 2023.

The Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden was featured in a special episode of Spotlight STL, a weekly show that shares information about St. Louis arts and culture. In the episode, Garden President Peter Wyse Jackson provides a tour of the new visitor center, which was designed by Ayers Saint Gross.

This summer Worcester Polytechnic Institute Facilities are beginning major renovations in Stratton Hall and beyond; and the intense work of creating a new campuswide facilities plan to guide decisions related to the university’s buildings and grounds for the next 10 years.

The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) recently awarded Greensboro Hall at Ringling College of Art and Design a 2023 Premiere Finalist Award.

The Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) recently honored the Grinnell College Kington Plaza and Christiansen Outdoor Learning Spaces with a 2023 Excellence in Landscape Architecture General Design Merit Award.

The revitalization of Baltimore County's beloved Security Square Mall brings the community vision of a vibrant, walkable, and entertaining economic hub back to life.

Ayers Saint Gross is the design architect for the new College of Nursing at the University of Central Florida. The Helene Fuld Health Trust has committed a $5.5 million gift to the College of Nursing to support the creation of a state-of-the-art simulation center in the new building, a critical component to education and innovation.

The two buildings opened in August 2022 for the new academic year and are home to the departments of engineering and physics and serve as a new hub for multidisciplinary education and innovation in the heart of Elon’s campus. Announced in 2020 as part of the Boldly Elon strategic plan, these buildings feature 65,000 square feet of cutting-edge labs, workshops and creation spaces.

The first new dining hall on campus in 49 years, Yahentamitsi Dining Hall at the University of Maryland completed an 11-year new-build project when it opened in 2022. The nearly 68,000-square-foot all-you-care-to-eat facility can serve up to 15,000 guests daily.

Emory graduate and professional students will have a new housing option, opening in summer 2024 for the fall semester. The Graduate and Professional Student Housing Initiative broke ground on Phase I in September 2022 and is continuing on schedule.

Are you interested in joining our team? Our firm will be visiting a number of colleges and universities this spring for campus recruiting and career fairs, both virtually and in-person.

This year, we would like to recognize 20 of our talented and creative employee-owners on their well-deserved promotions. To celebrate, we asked each of them to reflect on the industry challenges they are most excited to overcome in the future.

Despite wet weather, dirt has finally moved at the site of what will eventually be the Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte and innovation district known as “The Pearl.” A group of about 200 stakeholders, community leaders and representatives from Wake Forest, Atrium Health and Wexford Science & Technology gathered this morning under the cover of a massive tent to break ground on the 700,000-square-foot med school and innovation district.

Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week, classes opened today at the University of North Texas at Frisco's first permanent campus building, Frisco Landing. The $100 million, 135,000-square-foot building will be home to many of UNT at Frisco's 2,500 students. Its collaborative design includes 69 "huddle rooms," interactive classrooms, and more. Here's a look both outside and in.

In 2022, Ayers Saint Gross celebrated a number of individual and team accomplishments and was recognized with 19 design awards.

The detailed master plan, developed by Ayers Saint Gross, provides a visitor infrastructure and experiential framework that knits the implementation of Wadi AlFann’s contemporary art program with the preservation and interpretation of its heritage sites. Artist sites have been identified to protect sensitive landscapes, ensure site integrity and enhance visitor movement and immersion within the site’s network of canyons.

The National Aquarium's Floating Wetland Prototype was recently featured as part of a Yale Environment 360 article.

Sustainability Director Allison Wilson is included in an article explaining how and why deep energy retrofits are crucial to curb carbon emissions.

Ayers Saint Gross ranked among the top five university architecture firms in the country on the Building Design+Construction 2022 Giants 400 Report, which is based on 2021 revenue.

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.