New Building
A Bold New Chapter for Buffalo’s Architectural Legacy
Major Expansion on the Richardson Olmsted Campus
The Lipsey Architecture Center Buffalo (LACB), a dedicated space for the celebration and exploration of greater-Buffalo, New York’s rich architectural legacy, will expand into a new 11,000 sq. ft. facility on the Richardson Olmsted Campus.
The National Historic Landmark buildings and grounds of the Richardson Olmsted Campus were designed by noted architect Henry Hobson Richardson, and the prominent landscape architect of the day, Frederick Law Olmsted.
Currently located in the Campus’s Towers building, the LACB will move to a structure that includes the adaptive reuse of a ca. 1875 kitchen building with a new addition designed by the internationally recognized firm, Boston-based Höweler + Yoon Architecture.
“The LACB’s new home not only involves saving and reusing another historic structure on the Campus, but, more importantly, represents an investment in the community by expanding the scope of the Center’s mission to highlight one of the greatest collections of period architecture in the country.”
—Paris Roselli, Executive Director
“New interactive exhibits will also feature aspects of our city’s planning, building, and preservation efforts,” said LACB’s Executive Director Paris F. Roselli.
Roselli continued, “By showcasing the many architectural treasures we’ve inherited from past generations, the LACB will serve as a powerful driver for cultural tourism and the associated economic benefits by bringing visitors to Western New York from all over the world. It will feel very much at one with other recent additions to Buffalo’s Museum District.”
According to H+Y founding principal Eric Höweler, “The curving glass face of the new LACB pavilion will create a ‘mirage-like’ effect with a unique system of 18’ tall scalloped glass panels that are designed to accentuate Richardson’s historic masonry structure.”
The LACB will work with many local firms on the project, including Hadley Exhibits, Buffalo Construction Consultants, Cannon Design, Fisher Associates, R.E. Kelly, J.A. Gulick Window Company and Weaver Metal & Roofing, among others.
The non-profit LACB was founded in 2007 and initially supported by a lead gift from the late Stanford Lipsey, former publisher and president of The Buffalo News, and his wife, Judi, chair of the LACB board of directors, along with financial support from private donors, foundations, and grants from private and public sources.
Judi Lipsey reflects on her late husband’s appreciation for Buffalo’s wealth of historically significant architecture, and his passion for preserving and repurposing them:
“My excitement over the LACB’s new home on the Richardson Olmsted Campus is even greater when I think about how proud Stan would have been to see his dream come to life.”
A date for groundbreaking for the new Lipsey Architecture Center Buffalo will be announced this spring.
Sponsors / Partners
