HIGHER EDUCATION
Introduction For 40 years, Lake Flato has created modern and authentic buildings – defined foremost by a sense of place that ties one’s experience to the land and to its environmental and community context. Our spaces, buildings, materials and systems are restrained but rich in their recognition and deference to the broader context of place. We employ a practical and artful approach to design that reduces extraneous materials and systems and incorporates proven passive strategies that respond to a site’s environmental context, maximizing building performance and reducing carbon impacts while enhancing the wellbeing of our clients. The design of higher education facilities offers a unique and exciting opportunity to shape the education process, enhance students’ experiences and advance critical research that addresses society’s most urgent needs. From the landscapes, learning environments, social and student life spaces to laboratories and research environments, Lake Flato focuses on the many layers of design that contribute to vibrant academic and interdisciplinary research communities. Lake Flato offers a broad portfolio of award-winning projects including diverse projects in educational and research laboratories, hands-on, active, hybrid, and distance learning classrooms, student life, housing and recreation facilities, and administrative facilities. Lake Flato has also worked with some of the nation’s leading R-1 universities on diverse research and learning environments from bioscience engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering to computer science, device and fabrication labs, data science and AI that foster vibrant collaborative interdisciplinary communities. Four principles ground this body of work located in very diverse landscapes and contexts: • Design should be resourceful and artful, celebrating the craft of construction • Architecture should connect users to their environmental and cultural context • Every building should be a high-performance building • Every project should result in a more vibrant community
We hope the enclosed material conveys our dedication to meaningful collaborations, design excellence, innovative interdisciplinary research environments and environmental placemaking.
“Lake Flato’s work is a transparent and powerful affirmation of the proposition that architecture is more than a gravity-defying plan, more than innovation, more even than the genius of inspiration and the deft application of experience; it is a public statement of private values that nurture within the firm a culture of excellence whose traits are an enlightened stewardship of site confirmed by a reverent approach to the land, and respect for tradition.” -Eugene Hopkins, FAIA, 2004 President of the AIA
Trinity exemplifies Lake Flatos commitment to sustainability through its innovative design strategies, including Mass Timber, that prioritize energy efficiency, resource conservation, and a harmonious relationship with the surrounding environment. Trinity University Business & Humanities District + Dicke Hall | San Antonio, TX
Our Firm Since its founding in San Antonio in 1984, Lake Flato has designed buildings that respond to the culture and climate of each unique place and is committed to creating environments that enrich communities and nurture life. In collaboration with our clients, we create buildings that are tactile and modern, environmentally responsible, artful and crafted. The firm’s designs evolve from an appreciation for pragmatic solutions of vernacular architecture, the honesty of modernism, and the context of our rich and varied landscape. These principles shape projects across a broad spectrum of market sectors from Higher Education to Custom Residential, Environmental Education Centers to Urban Design and Hospitality to Museums. The diversity of our work affords unique insights and drives innovation. By employing sustainable strategies in a wide variety of building types and scales, the firm designs architecture that conserves energy and natural resources and enhances human experience. Designing authentic, healthy places requires active engagement, deep listening, and rigorous investigation. We approach each collaboration with the curiosity and humility to discover new ideas and draw out unique points of view. We use this diversity of thought to devise artful innovative solutions across a wide range of project types, locations, and scales. Lake Flato has received wide critical acclaim. We were recognized by ARCHITECT Magazine as the top firm
overall in the 2019 ARCHITECT 50. We were the first architecture firm to receive a Texas Medal of Arts award, and the American Institute of Architects honored us with its prestigious Firm of the Year Award. Fast Company recently named us one of the “Ten Most Innovative Architecture Firms in the World” and the LOCUS Foundation honored Lake Flato with a Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, recognizing our architectural approach to addressing the needs of society. Seventeen Lake Flato projects have received the national AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Award, the highest recognition for sustainable design. As architects, teachers, environmental stewards and community advocates, we strive to advocate for environmental stewardship and advance solutions to climate change through design excellence. Lake Flato is also committed to operating with a strong social ethos that demonstrates accountability and furthers the conversation around social justice as we strive to create an inclusive atmosphere in our practice and in our collaborations. Attaining rigorous B Corp certification and participating in the International Living Future Institute’s JUST program is an extension of our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. Both programs provide transparent, internationally recognized frameworks for assessing and improving how we operate through an equity lens. By holding ourselves accountable to these high standards of verification and transparency, we aspire to serve as a model for other firms.
Recognition Lake Flato Architects has earned robust national and international recognition for design excellence, with over 300 awards—including the AIA Firm of the Year and 17 AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Awards—reflecting our unwavering commitment to designing extraordinary buildings that enrich communities, elevate the human experience, and set new standards for architectural innovation and sustainability.
Lake Flato’s COTE Top Ten Awards Lake Flato Architects’ industry-leading 17 AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Awards is a testament to our unwavering commitment to high-performance design and the creation of sustainable solutions that are both practical and deeply responsive to the land and its surroundings. These awards are especially meaningful to us because they recognize not only design excellence, but also our dedication to integrating environmental stewardship, resource conservation, and wellness into every project. By consistently achieving this highest honor for sustainable architecture, we demonstrate our belief that thoughtful, pragmatic design can enrich communities, minimize environmental impact, and set new standards for what buildings can achieve in harmony with their context. 7 of Lake Flato’s COTE Awards are Higher Education projects. (Highlighted in bold below.): • Arizona State University Health Services Building • Arizona State University Polytechnic Academic District • Austin Central Library • Confluence Park • Dixon Water Foundation Josey Pavilion • Georgia Tech Krone Engineered Biosystems Building • Government Canyon Visitor Education Center
• Livestrong Foundation Headquarters • Marine Education Center at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) • Pearl Brewery / Full Goods Warehouse • Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center • The Universities at Shady Grove Biomedical Sciences & Engineering Education Facility • Trinity University Business & Humanities District + Dicke Hall
• H-E-B Mueller Market
• University of Texas at Houston School of Nursing
• Knox College Whitcomb Art Center
• World Birding Center
RECOGNITION
Lake Flato’s work has been recognized with more than 400 international, national and regional awards, and has been featured in five Monographs, over 100 books and 250 national publications. FIRM AWARDS AIA Gold Medal Award AIA Architecture Firm Award Architect 50, Top U.S. Firms - #1 Overall 2019 AIA COTE Top Ten Project Legacy Award Locus Foundation Global Award for Sustainable Architecture Cooper Hewitt National Design Award Finalist Interior Design Magazine Hall of Fame Fast Company Ten Most Innovative Architecture Firms in the World Texas Medal of Honor Texas Society of Architects/AIA Texas Firm of the Year Award Texas Society of Architects O’neil Ford Medal for Design Achievement The Architecture League of New York Emerging Voices Award Tilt-Up Concrete Association Irving J. Gill Progressive Architect Award Builder’s Choice Custom Home Marvin Hall of Fame for Design Excellence INTERNATIONAL Architizer A+ Award Alamo Beer Brewery (Honorable Mention) Austin Central Library (Honorable Mention) Bridge House Clinton Corners Residence Confluence Park Dixon Water Foundation Josey Pavilion House Zero Lake|Flato San Antonio Office (Finalist) Marine Education Center at GCRL Penn State University Pollinator & Bird Garden (Jury Award) River Bend Residence (Jury Award) Archdaily Top 100 Projects in the World ASU Health Services Building Dixon Water Foundation Josey Pavilion
America by Design: Architecture Season One Winner Marine Education Center at GCRL Congress for New Urbanism Global Charter Award Pearl Brewery Redevelopment Montgomery Park Master Plan Trappey Riverfront District Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award Aegean Pool House Confluence Park Dixon Water Foundation Josey Pavilion Hotel Magdalena House Zero Ishawooa Mesa Ranch Knox College Whitcomb Art Center Lavaca House Marine Education Center at GCRL The Holdsworth Center International Downtown Alliance Award of Distinction Main Plaza International WELL Building Institute Unique Impact Award Lake Flato San Antonio Office Fast Company Most Innovative Architecture of 2022: Finalist - Spaces & Places House Zero Future House Awards: Most Innovative House of the Year House Zero Metropolis Planet Positive Award Honoree Confluence Park Outside Magazine Travel Award Trailborn Grand Canyon Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award Dixon Water Foundation Josey Pavilion
Time Magazine: World’s Greatest Places Austin Central Library Time Magazine Best Invention in Design House Zero ULI Institute Global Awards for Excellence Pearl Brewery Redevelopment 1221 Broadway Redevelopment (Finalist) Livestrong Foundation Headquarters (Finalist) Wood Design & Building Award Marine Education Center at GCRL NATIONAL AIA Honor Award Armstrong Oil & Gas Headquarters Carraro Residence Confluence Park Hill Country Jacal Hog Pen Creek Residence Lasater Residence Marine Education Center at GCRL Pearl Brewery & Full Goods Warehouse The Holdsworth Center World Birding Center AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Award Austin Central Library ASU Health Services Building ASU Polytechnic Academic District Confluence Park Dixon Water Foundation Josey Pavilion Georgia Tech Krone Engineered Biosystems Building Government Canyon Visitor Education Center H-E-B Mueller Market Livestrong Foundation Headquarters Knox College Whitcomb Art Center Marine Education Center at GCRL Pearl Brewery Redevelopment Shangri La Nature Center
Trinity University Dicke Hall + Business & Humanities District USG Biomedical Sciences & Engineering Education Facility UTHSC School of Nursing World Birding Center AIA/ALA Library Building Award Austin Central Library Great Northwest Branch Library ALA/IIDA Library Interior Design Award Austin Central Library Cedar Park Public Library AIA Committee on Architecture for Education Facility Design Award ASU Polytechnic Academic District Awty International School Carver Academy Cranbrook Kingswood Girls Middle School Francis Parker School Indian Springs School Knox College Whitcomb Art Center St. John’s College Levan Hall AIA Housing Award 1221 Broadway Blue Lake Retreat Hog Pen Creek Residence Lake Tahoe Residence Lake Austin Residence AIA/HUD Community Building by Design Carver Academy AIA Interior Architecture Award Cedar Park Public Library American Institute of Steel Construction Design Award Armstrong Oil & Gas Headquarters ASU Polytechnic Academic District Cutting Horse Ranch Government Canyon Visitor Center Triple-S Steel Supply Company
High Performance Design Our responsibility as architects and stewards of the natural environment and the communities within which we work compels us to Lead. More than simply design, we must educate, encourage, explore and guide our clients to help them make informed decisions about the built environment. Since Lake|Flato’s inception over 40 years ago, environmental stewardship and high-performance design have been integral to our design approach and process. Simply defined, sustainable design is smart design that looks beyond the building and considers the larger context. We strive to create high performance buildings and engaging learning environments that enhance our understanding and relationship to the natural world. Our process starts with intelligent passive strategies that reduce loads and minimize a building’s reliance on carbon-based energy before active systems and equipment are applied to a building design. Passive strategies minimize energy loads while contributing to healthful and productive learning and work environments. Through an interdisciplinary integrated process, we define building performance goals at the initiation of the design and rely on a data-based process to document passive and active strategies to reach those goals.
“The guidance and leadership provided by Lake Flato made what was considered an impossible task by many, something that was able to be accomplished with exemplary results.” -Mike Hoke, Former Managing Director of Shangri La Nauture Center
Mass Timber Mass timber is transforming the landscape of contemporary architecture by offering a sustainable, high-performance alternative to traditional building materials. Composed of engineered wood products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), nail laminated timber (NLT) and dowel laminated timber (DLT), mass timber systems provide exceptional strength, durability, and design flexibility. These materials enable architects to create expansive, open spaces with warm, natural aesthetics while reducing the carbon footprint associated with steel and concrete construction. Lake Flato Architects has embraced mass timber for its environmental benefits and has become a nationally recognized leader in the implementation of this emerging technology. Mass timber sequesters carbon throughout its lifecycle, contributing to lower greenhouse gas emissions and supporting responsible forestry practices. Its prefabrication reduces construction schedules, reduces waste, and minimizes site disruption. Beyond its environmental advantages, mass timber offers unique opportunities for architectural expression. The exposed wood brings warmth and character to interiors, enhancing occupant well-being and creating a strong connection to nature while allowing designs to reduce extraneous materials and finishes. Mass timber stands at the forefront of innovative design, aligning with Lake Flato Architects’ commitment to creating beautiful, resilient, and environmentally responsible buildings.
EMBODIED CARBON ANALYSIS STRUCTURE: CONCRETE VS STEEL
Georgia Tech’s Krone Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB) is a research facility that challenges proj/Firm traditional laboratory design by creating a system of open lab neighborhoods that foster engagement. The facility also acts as a campus gateway, contributing vibrancy and cohesion. Georgia Tech Krone Engineered Biosystems Building | Atlanta, GA
STEM & Research Environments Our diverse portfolio of STEM and research spaces form vibrant academic, research and social communities that nurture engagement and discovery. The variety of our buildings reflects each unique challenge and institution, where we are tasked with advancing bold and innovative solutions to some of the most challenging research problems facing each university. From Cornell, to Penn, to Georgia Tech, we are engaged to help revolutionize their approach, resulting in environments that become exemplars for each field. Our approach has especially demonstrated success when tasked with evolving past traditional processes, aligning new structures with the most advanced and groundbreaking methods at the frontier of scientific exploration and learning. We take pride in synthesizing the knowledge of each community into buildings that are commensurate with their research and curriculum aspirations. Each project begins with listening. Before we design, we invest deeply in understanding the particular culture of a research group, the specific workflows of its scientists, and the ambitions of the institution. Our engagement process is structured around genuine dialogue, with researchers, faculty, students, and facilities staff, ensuring that every voice shapes how a building will be used and maintained. This integrated approach means that the strategic decisions made earliest in a project will carry the most leverage and reflect the full complexity of the challenge. The result is a building that feels intrinsically linked to its time and need: one that could only have been designed for this institution, this research community, and this place.
Beyond functional laboratories and classrooms, we design great spaces for researchers, Access to daylight and views, connection to nature, and the opportunity for chance encounters between colleagues are not amenities, they are essential conditions for good science. Biophilic design is an evidence-based strategy for the health, wellbeing, and productivity of the people doing the work. Researchers are deeply committed to their craft, and we strive to support and enhance their experience to maximize the potential of your community. The diversity of our experience forms the basis of our expertise. Lake Flato designs across scales and sectors, from intimate coastal field stations and private biotech facilities to major urban research towers at flagship universities. Our work in hospitality, workplace design, and cultural institutions informs how we think about the social life of a research building: how shared core resources are an opportunity to spark conversation among labs, how a lobby can function as a campus living room, and how a collaborative café can become some of the most productive square footage in a building. Finally, we design for time. Research evolves faster than buildings are replaced, and a new research facility represents one of the largest capital investments a university will make. Flexibility and adaptability are built into our thinking from the earliest phases; structural systems, infrastructure distribution, and spatial organization are carefully considered so a building commissioned today remains a competitive asset for the researchers of the next generation.
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Amy Gutmann Hall & Data Science Research Building PHILADELPHIA, PA Amy Gutmann Hall is Penn Engineering’s new home for data science and AI. At six stories and 116,000 square feet, the building is the tallest mass timber academic facility on the East Coast. Named for the university’s longest-serving president, Amy Gutmann Hall connects building occupants, who work in a digital realm, back to the natural world—maximizing views and daylight, integrating ecological environments into interior spaces, and incorporating sensory stimuli that encourage collaboration and comfort. The cutting-edge mass timber system significantly reduces the building’s carbon footprint and reinforces its identity as a beacon of innovation. Housing Penn Engineering’s data science research and academic programs, Amy Gutmann Hall is a vibrant and welcoming hub for cross-disciplinary collaborations focused on harnessing the power of data and AI. The facility houses three floors of teaching labs, active learning classrooms, and collaboration spaces as well as three floors of research centers. The ground floor serves as a home base for data science and AI programming with a gracious student commons and a quiet reading room, collaboration spaces, and a large lecture hall.
Size
Recognition
116,058 sf
Wood In Architecture Award AIA New York Honor Award AIA Philadelphia Merit Award/Sustainability AIA Pennsylvania Design Award Finalist AIA New Jersey Honor Award
Cost
$98.5M Sustainability
Mass Timber Stucture | 70% GWP reduction (kgCO2eq)
“Amy Gutmann Hall was remarkably human. Beautifully biophilic. Mass timber on a campus – does everything right from planning to integration. Targeting decarbonization with 70% lower than typical campus building. It does everything right while being incredibly elegant. It’s accessible through implied front porch, spatial layering. The intersection of double height spaces plays beautifully. Very impressive and gorgeously executed. We loved this project” -Jury Comment, AIA NY Design Awards
AI DATA RESEARCH LABS & NEIGHBORHOODS The AI and Data Science Research environments for Amy Gutmann Hall erode silos of individual research teams and offers integrated, flexible and collaborative research neighborhoods. Traditional computational labs tend to house a single team of 6 – 8 researchers in individual, defined labs. This configuration leads to cellular buildings that struggle to foster a broader sense of community, vitality and interdisciplinary collaboration. For Amy Gutmann Hall, we designed AI and Data Science Research neighborhoods that could support 4 to 5 research teams resulting in 32 - 40 researchers within a single open research lab. Adjacent labs are connected through shared collaboration spaces within the research zone which support flexibility, team communication and growth. The increase in number of researchers, especially with the advent of Zoom or other communication technologies, increases the likelihood of auditory or visual disruptions which can be a significant concern for AI and Data Science researchers. Consequently, on a per person basis, we increased the number Zoom/Phone Rooms, enclosed collaboration space and open social space to encourage collaboration and connectivity. The shared resources are located adjacent but outside of the research zone using glass walls for acoustic separation while maintaining visual connectivity and ease of access. The re-imagined computational research neighborhoods are far more flexible and collaborative, and result in a more interdisciplinary and vibrant research community.
COMMUNITY + CONNECTIVITY The upper three floors of Amy Gutmann Hall housing the research neighborhoods are organized around a series of two-story communal spaces that contain open and enclosed collaboration space, social space and hospitality stations. This network of spaces connects research neighborhoods floor to floor fostering community at the building scale. The network of double height spaces avoids a costly atrium condition and efficiently gathers teams around shared resources that foster a vibrant research community.
AI & DATA SCIENCE RESEARCH NEIGHBORHOODS
GEORGIA TECH
Krone Engineered Biosystems Building ATLANTA, GA The Krone Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB) is an intersection of education, collaboration, and research that connects people to one another and to the surrounding natural environment. Georgia Tech’s Krone Engineered Biosystems Building is an innovative new model for research facilities that challenges the silos of traditional laboratory design, creating a system of open lab neighborhoods that foster engagement. A departure from traditional lab structure, the “cross-cutting lab” implements continuous working lab space running down the spine of the building, with offices and meeting rooms in the wings. Daylight, outdoor views, a water harvesting system and other biophilic elements used throughout the program encourage interaction. Technology and intelligent design work together to create a multi-purpose open space with high levels of ecological performance. The LEED Platinum Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB) serves as a core bio-technological research building and a model for further campus development. EBB’s six-story, vertically scaled, narrow structure exhibits a light footprint that maximizes views. The building sits at the southern gateway and creates a more porous, transparent edge to the entire campus as a vibrant new entry framing Atlanta’s northern Midtown.
Size
Recognition
207,790 sf
AIA COTE Top Ten Award AIA Georgia Merit Award San Antonio Design Award AIA San Antonio COTE Award
Cost
$91.6M Sustainability
LEED Gold
“We challenged the Lake Flato team from the very beginning to balance our programmatic needs, design aspirations and sustainable design goals within the available budget. The team successfully met that challenge through creative solutions, careful attention to details and excellent communication.” -John Duconge, Senior Project Manager
VIBRANT RESEARCH COMMUNITIES A principle goal for the design of the Krone Engineered Biosystems Building was to foster interaction between chemists, engineers, biologists and computational scientists from the College of Engineering and the College of Science. To address the goal, the facility was organized around a series of two-story blended research neighborhoods organized by theme rather than department. The success of the neighborhoods relied on a number of strategies such as vertical spatial and visual connectivity, transparency and visual connectivity between wet, dry and computational labs, and shared collaboration and social spaces for multiple disciplines. The two story shared spaces incorporate dramatic, open staircases, lounge areas and break-out spaces to foster interaction. Shared kitchenettes, small nooks and soft seating in addition to large collaboration tables encourage students to spend more time in the building, collaborating with peers and engaging in research with PIs and researchers. Embracing a more relaxed design focuses more heavily on comfortable seating, access to technology, lots of natural light and of course accessibility results in a facility that is both highly efficient and welcoming. Similarly, the design incorporated two distinct lab typologies: Conventional Lab and Cross-Cut Lab. The Conventional Lab Module offers optimal location for support spaces and maximizes flexibility for research teams. The location of the support spaces also helps mitigate southern thermal loads yet prevents balanced daylight distribution in the most frequently occupied spaces: the labs. The Cross Cut concept provides a clear view thru the building allowing daylight to penetrate deep into the lab spaces with the use of glass partitions between graduate student offices and the lab. The enhanced daylighting, transparency and connectivity offer an elevated user experience and connections to the natural environment. We work with each user group to understand their priorities and unique culture to shape research environments to meet their specific needs.
RESEARCH THEMES Levels
4|5
Maximize daylight and views connecting people to nature
LO L BIO
Levels
3|4
Maximize use of naturals materials in areas of intense communal activity
GY
ICA M E H C LOGY O I B L CEL R A PY E H T L L CE LOGY SYSTEMS BIO CAMPUS
CHILDREN’S HEALTH SUPPORT
Levels
2|3
Right size volume for communal spaces at strategic programmatic overlaps in plan and sections to build community (No atriums)
Levels
1|2
Showcase stairs as primary form of vertical circulation and place stairs in path prior to elevators.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SYSTEM
Biomedical Sciences & Engineering Education Facility ROCKVILLE, MD The Biomedical Sciences and Engineering (BSE) Education Facility was designed to optimize the built environment’s impact on human and environmental resiliency — making it one of the most sustainable laboratory buildings in the country. Biophilic strategies drove the LEED Platinum design, resulting in a delicate environmental footprint that enhances human health through access to daylight, healthy air, and views to nature while restoring the adjacent wetland as an active pedestrian amenity. 87% of the BSE’s occupied spaces have exterior views complemented by natural materials like reclaimed wood, living walls, and water features — fostering feelings of wellbeing and improving productivity. The building’s biophilic design connects students, staff, and visitors to a sense of place, resulting in occupants that are invested in the happenings of the BSE and broader community. The BSE brings together an academic community dedicated to advancing access to interdisciplinary education, research, and training in STEM fields. The BSE’s diversity of users and uses is reflected in the building’s broad range of dedicated study, research, and teaching spaces, each of which is physically and visually connected to flexible breakout areas for informal collaboration and inclusive gathering.
Size
Recognition
235,936 sf
AIA COTE Top Ten Award SCUP Excellence in Architecture Merit Award Institute for Sustainable Laboratories Award AIA San Antonio Merit Award AIA Maryland Vision Award AIA Maryland Jury Citation for Institutional Architecture AIA Potomac Valley Honor Award – Institutional Architecture USGBC National Capital Region Judge’s Choice Award
Cost
$128.4M Sustainability
LEED Platinum
A DIVERSITY OF PLACE: FOSTERING BELONGING The building’s connectivity nurtures a sense of discovery. Materials, daylight, and views work in concert to create a wide variety of human scaled spaces and experiences. Moving through the building, users enjoy the tactility and sweeping forms of wood, the thrill of traversing a bridge four or five stories in the air, the energy felt when looking in on innovative collaboration, and the satisfaction of finding a favorite spot to relax or catch up with friends.
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Atkinson Hall, Atkinson Center for Sustainability & Multidisciplinary Research Building ITHACA, NY An embodiment of “One Cornell,” Atkinson Hall provides a dynamic and collaborative environment for distinct but overlapping programs within the spectrum of scientific research, public health, environmental policy, and sustainability—including the Atkinson Center for Sustainability, the Department of Computational Biology, the Center for Cancer and Immunology, and the Master of Public Health program. Overlooking the Cornell Botanic Gardens, Atkinson Hall is sited and configured to minimize its impact on the sensitive landscape to the north, while framing a threshold into the campus along Tower Road to the south. The design preserves open space along the edge of a steep escarpment for a constructed wetland, designed to manage stormwater on site and minimize erosion while preserving a stand of majestic evergreen trees. The configuration also allows daylight to penetrate deeper within the building and promote views of the surrounding landscape and Gardens. Employing strategies learned from hospitality and co-working spaces, a warm and welcoming lounge and collaboration space greets visitors and collaborators on the first floor. Wet labs and computational workspaces for Biology occupy the upper three floors. The laboratory layout promotes interdisciplinary collaboration with strong visual connections between the wet benches and computational desks that allow for greater interaction between disciplines.
Size
Sustainability
104,000 sf
LEED Gold
Cost
Completed
$72M
2026
“Lake Flato brought the highest level of expertise in every aspect of design and planning to our projects, listened to us, and delivered. The buildings they are creating for us are uniquely Cornell and will have a long lasting impact on our campus and the people who comprise this great university.” -Margret M Carney University Architect
CORNELL BOTANIC GARDENS
OFFICES
WET DRY LABS
WET LABS TOWER ROAD
SHARED
VIBRANT RESEARCH COMMUNITIES Atkinson Hall is designed specifically to support each individual program while stimulating interdisciplinary collaboration among the 6 individual research centers—as well as with colleagues from across Cornell’s campuses. Secure glass partitions allow shared Wet, Dry and Computational Labs to seamlessly connect enhancing workflows and collaboration between teams. The shared labs were designed to increase flexibility and the ebb and flow of research centers while increasing utilization. The glass partitions allow daylight to penetrate deep within the narrow lab footprint and promote views from all lab spaces to the surrounding landscape in recognition of the long gray winters of upstate New York that can impact researchers’ mental health.
“Atkinson Hall will allow Cornell to do what it does best – bring together faculty from across disciplines to achieve the next level of investigation and discovery, This will be transformative for the fields of immunology, cancer biology, molecular biology and genetics, computational biology and biomedical engineering. I can only imagine what discoveries we are going to see as the science in this building develops.” -Gary Koretzky, Interim Vice Provost for Research
COLLABORATIVE CORE The design also aggregates meeting, social and collaboration space from each of the research centers into a shared “collaboration core”. A community kitchen, quiet reading room, meeting and collaboration spaces and a large convening space are clustered vertically around an open staircase, offering easy access to all researchers around the clock. Inspired by hospitality environments, the design magnetizes the Collaboration Core with natural materials, diverse seating and panoramic views across the campus and Cornell Botanic Gardens.
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Gianforte Hall School of Computing BOZEMAN, MT Gianforte Hall houses the School of Computing as well as Music Technology and Film & Photography programs to leverage creative synergies between these disciplines and drive creative innovation. A vibrant and welcoming hub, Gianforte Hall will bring together a diverse student population from across campus to engage with computing topics and programming. Instructional spaces will include classrooms, computing and robotics labs, as well as recording, mixing, and post-production studios that showcase student projects and research. Collaboration and social spaces are organized along the southern perimeter of the building, leveraging natural daylight and broad views of the mountain landscape beyond. A variety of interdisciplinary spaces, with diverse acoustic and visual experiences, are distributed along these arteries. Multi-level spaces connect floors, allowing energy and activity to flow between levels. The mass timber is primarily sourced from Montana forests to support regional economic development and to reinforce a sense of place—resonating with the land and the community that made it possible. As a pilot project for the Climate Smart Wood Group’s wood transparency specifications, the project has successfully promoted a more transparent wood-supply chain in Montana and beyond.
Size
Sustainability
57,759 sf
Mass Timber Structure LEED Gold (tracking)
Cost
Completed
$39.7M
Fall 2026 (anticipated)
STEM LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS The design of STEM Learning Environments starts with a strategic approach to fostering a vibrant academic community and robust collaboration. How collaboration spaces are deployed within a building, how they feel and their proximity to labs and learning spaces directly impacts the ability of your students to collaborate, learn and grow, and in turn, stimulate community. We also consider the strategic placement of collaboration and social spaces relative to the site and environmental context. We magnetize social, huddle and collaboration spaces often by aligning them with the best views and access to daylight while maintaining critical adjacencies to labs, maker spaces and learning environments. This approach combined with Mass Timber structural systems or warm tactile interiors results in highly desirable spaces that encourage students to gather and engage extending the learning environment and process. The Active Edge at Gianforte Hall for Computer Science exemplifies our approach. By deploying a diversity of huddle, collaboration and social spaces directly adjacent to the lab spaces, we enable students and professors to quickly move between labs and collaboration while connecting users to the natural environment and site. The result is a building whose core is a vibrant hub of student centric collaboration and learning with easy direct access to the labs and nature.
“West Campus Commons has become the centerpiece of a portion of campus that lacked a true heart. The West Campus Commons fills the void in such a powerful and compelling manner, creating a living room that includes dining services, study spaces, meeting rooms, instructional space, outdoor social spaces, performance landscape areas and covered porches …to meet the growing academic demands and student life needs of our campus community.” -Howard S. Wertheimer, FAIA, LEED AP, AUA Institute Architect, Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Tech West Village Commons
proj/Firm
Campus Community & Placemaking Today’s academic communities necessitate both state of the art facilities as well as campus spaces that support interdisciplinary research, learning, living and recreation. A cohesive and connected campus fabric contributes to vibrant academic, research and social communities. As a result, the spaces between buildings can be as important to the success of an educational experience as the buildings themselves. Effective campus buildings incorporate rigorous programmatic requirements while responding to the environmental context that will create purposeful relationships between facilities, campus spaces, members of your community and learning and research processes. The design of an individual building must start with a thorough understanding of a campus’ environmental and ecological context informing the configuration and articulation of the building, its surrounding campus spaces and the relationship between the two. Campus spaces for active and passive learning, socializing, and recreation should balance the need for privacy, a sense of security and social engagement. Each project is an opportunity to mend the land and restore its natural ecological systems and health. Our approach to placemaking and campus environments is to link environmental and campus planning, and actively steward
the site’s natural resources, enhance human experience and foster a vibrant community. This approach demands more than an understanding of the site’s physical components, history, and cultural significance; it requires viewing the site in its ecological context. The natural resources and ecological processes occurring within and flowing through the landscape are central to its sense of place. while recognizing that humans are integral and influential to that ecology. Each new building builds on the larger ecosystem of campus and should foster a vibrant community at multiple levels, from the individual, to the research or learning cohort, to larger disciplines and schools. Our work is guided by the understanding that the most transformative academic environments are those that make community feel natural and inevitable. We achieve this through deliberate spatial sequencing: beginning with how the building engages with the campus context and circulation patterns, to the location of shared amenities, collaboration zones, and social infrastructure to maximize meaningful interactions. The building should be an engine for shaping everyday flow into interdisciplinary exchange.
TRINITY UNIVERSITY
Buisness & Humanities District + Dicke Hall SAN ANTONIO, TX Trinity University’s Business and Humanities District realizes a vision for a cohesive and vibrant interdisciplinary academic district. The district was formed by the renovation of two historic mid-century buildings designed by noted Texas Modernist O’Neil Ford and the addition of Dicke Hall, a new mass timber academic facility. The district ties into and completes the campus’ academic spine, along which each department is clearly identified and supported by indoor and outdoor social and collaboration spaces. The renovation of the mid-century Chapman and Halsell buildings transformed the student experience within the outdated facilities. Traditional classrooms were converted to active and hybrid learning environments. Underutilized spaces became vibrant collaboration nodes and, by replacing solid walls with glass and operable walls, activity and learning were made visible. New skylights punctuate the interiors, flooding the buildings with natural light. The renovated buildings offer a warm and welcoming interior environment that transforms the student experience while thoughtfully preserving the campus’ architectural heritage.
Size
Recognition
29,700 sf
AIA Honor Award for Architecture AIA COTE Top Ten Award America By Design: Architecture Season One Winner Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award Architizer A+ Jury Award - Architecture+Climate Change Texas Society of Architects Design Award AIA Gulf States Honor Award
Cost
$13.5M Sustainability
LEED Gold
“Your efforts have left us with a spectacular addition to the campus - the building is beautiful and successful in all the right ways. Dicke Hall pays homage to the historic legacy of Trinity architecture while embracing the need for environmentally responsive design, and does so like no building I have seen before…..one of beauty, grace, respect, and restraint, a building that is a perfect compliment and addition to the Trinity campus.” -John L. Scherding, University Architect
PASSIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES Demonstrating Trinity University’s commitment to environmental stewardship, Dicke Hall incorporates both passive and active sustainable design strategies to achieve notable building performance metrics. The mass timber building reduces embodied carbon by 52% and energy use by 90% as compared to a baseline building. The building also captures 100% of its condensate to eliminate all potable water from toilets and landscape. Additionally, by upgrading the building systems and envelopes of the historic structures and using high-performance systems and smart passive strategies on the Dicke Hall, the energy usage of the Humanities District adds less than 1% energy usage despite increasing the total square footage by 42%.
GEORGIA TECH
West Village Commons ATLANTA, GA The West Village Commons re-imagines a campus precinct to create a living room for the West Campus that leverages food and academics as social condensers. The Commons is a highly flexible educational, dining and community centric facility with food venues and kitchens, classrooms, faculty and staff offices, meeting rooms, study rooms and kitchens. Flexible open seating for student lounge and study areas both inside and outside, create a vibrant, hybrid, multi-purpose gathering place. The result is a lantern of activity in the heart of the west campus community. Situated at the headwaters of Georgia Tech’s Eco Commons, landscape integration reinforces the sustainable culture and relationship of this project to the campus. By creating covered outdoor areas with lighting, fans and sliding doors, the building creates exterior program that is practical, biophilic and cost effective. In association with Cooper Carry Size
Recognition
54,600 sf
SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture Award AIA San Antonio Merit Award AIA Georgia Honor Award
Cost
$23M
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Polytechnic Academic District MESA, AZ A new interdisciplinary academic program transformed a former Air Force base into a LEED Gold-certified, pedestrianoriented educational campus, and created a new identity for ASU Polytechnic. Five new academic buildings house interrelated STEAM academic colleges and are configured around courtyards and linked by a series of open-air atriums, building portals, and arcades. This LEED Gold design transformed a decommissioned Air Force base into an inviting, pedestrian-oriented campus, and created a new identity for ASU Polytechnic. Five high-performance buildings are integrated with three existing structures to house four distinct yet interrelated academic colleges and provide classroom and laboratory space for engineering and science programs. Buildings are configured around courtyards and linked by a series of openair atria, portals, and arcades, leveraging a seasonally temperate climate for exterior circulation. These thoughtful shade elements provide social spaces that maximize visibility, daylighting, and a sense of community while minimizing energy usage. Integrated with three existing buildings to create a cohesive complex, the buildings are configured around courtyards and linked by a series of openair atriums, building portals, and arcades to take advantage of the seasonally temperate climate for exterior circulation.
Size
Sustainability
245,000 sf | 14 acre site
LEED Gold
Cost
Recognition
$74M
AIA COTE Top Ten Award AIA Committee of Architecture for Education Award ASLA Honor Award
“Lake Flato demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of academic programming requirements and they delivered an inspired solution of architectural design, landscape, and materials that was carefully calibrated to meet the project site.” -Ron McCoy, Former University Architect
Lake Flato Architects 311 Third Street San Antonio, Texas 78205 www.lakeflato.com 210.227.3335