The John W. Olver Design Building at UMass Amherst has received quite a bit of media attention and received several awards. The following is a listing of what has been written and posted about it.
Press Review
(newest on top)
- Into the Wood – American School & University (03/2021)
- Studio Visit and Mapping the Industry – Architects’ Newspaper MassTimber special (Winter 2021)
- Leers Weinzapfel Associates’ UMass Amherst building mixes mass timber and copper-anodized aluminum – Architects’ Newspaper (8/6/2020)
- Forget the log cabin. Wood buildings are climbing skyward — with pluses for the planet – Washington Post (12/12/2019)
- UMass multi-level building showcases cutting edge timber construction – Daily Hampshire Gazette (6/15/2018)
- University of Massachusetts Olver Design Building – Wood Design & Building (6/7/2018)
- John W. Olver Design Building – Architect (4/10/2018)
- Designed to Inspire – Timber Trader News, Australia (March 2018)
- Inspiration through Innovation – UMass Amherst Olver Design Building – WoodWorks Case Study (January 2018)
- Leers Weinzapfel Associates Designs the World’s Largest Cross-Laminated Timber Academic Building – Metropolis (1/3/2018)
- The Best Architecture of 2017: Buildings of Quiet Ambition – Wall Street Journal (12/11/2017)
- In Design Building at UMass Amherst, students learn by example – Boston.com RealEstate (12/5/2017)
- Teaching Tool – Design New England (December 2017)
- UMass-Amherst design building named for former Congressman John Olver – MassLive / Republican (10/30/2017)
- A New Teacher on Campus – Learning by Design (Fall 2017)
- Leers Weinzapfel Associates Completes America’s First Cross-Laminated Timber Academic Building – Timber Design & Technology (June 2017)
- Raising the roof with CLT – World Architecture News (6/16/2017)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst Design Building / Leers Weinzapfel Associates – ArchDaily (5/25/2017)
- Design Building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst – World Architects (5/5/2017)
- Leers Weinzapfel completes America’s first cross-laminated timber academic building – dezeen (4/28/2017)
- UMass Amherst completes cross-laminated timber Design Building for architecture, other programs – Architects Newspaper (4/27/2017)
- This Week in Tech: New England Gets Its Largest Modern Wood Structure – Architect Magazine (4/27/2017)
- ‘Most advanced’ engineered wood building in the U.S. opens at UMass – Woodworking Network (4/27/2017)
- UMass Amherst is home to America’s first CLT academic building – Building Design & Construction (4/26/2017)
- UMass opens largest engineered wood building in northeast US – Construction Dive (4/26/2017)
- Why UMass Amherst’s newest building is made almost entirely of wood – Boston Globe (4/25/2017)
- UMass celebrating opening of modern, all-wood building – WWLP (4/25/2017)
- Photos: UMass Amherst opens new Design Building, largest modern wood structure in the Northeastern US – MassLive/Republican (4/25/2017)
- Into the Wood – Architectural Record SNAP! (March/April 2017)
- UMass Amherst Design Building Zipper Trusses – Architecture Magazine (3/2/2017)
- Game Changers – Building Design + Construction (January 2017)
- Not your grandfather’s two-by-fours: A new exhibition showcases modern wood construction – Architects Newspaper (1/13/2017)
- Skyscrapers made of wood? NBM show argues for alternative to steel, concrete – Washington Post (12/16/2016)
- Tall Wooden Buildings, Will Building Codes Allow Them? – MetalMiner (12/16/2016)
- ‘Timber City’ to Show Mass Timber’s Potential for Construction, Job Creation – Architect Magazine
- UMass wood construction expertise has Canadian roots – Daily Commercial News
- We Can Turn Climate Change Around – UMass Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (CAFE) Newsletter
- Leers Weinzapfel Associates designs timber architecture building for UMass Amherst – Architects Newspaper (3/31/2016)
- New Integrated Design Building incorporates sustainability, resilience and aesthetic – The Daily Collegian
- Design Building Progress – UMass Amherst video
- Leers Weinzapfel Associates: On Collaboration, Sustainable Buildings, and Timber Structures – SketchUp Blog
- Watch: High-tech timber erected at UMass – Suffolk BuildSmart Blog (watch video on YouTube)
- UMass Amherst’s Design Building, A Model of Sustainable Architecture – UMass On The Move
- Green Design: The Design Building gives sustainable research, education, and construction high visibility – UMass ResearchNext
- UMass celebrates groundbreaking of new $52 million Design Building – Daily Collegian
- Innovative UMass Design Building ‘designed by designers for designers to teach design‘ – MassLive
- UMass celebrates construction of Design Building using engineered timber instead of structural steel – Hampshire Gazette
- Campus Celebrates Construction of Sustainable Design Building – UMass Media (watch video on YouTube)
- Wood construction resurges at UMass – Suffolk BuildSmart Blog
- Timber’s Transformation: An Old Building Material is Reborn – Metropolis Magazine
- Timber Architecture Redefined at UMass – WMAIA Newsletter
- Design Building at UMass will revive technique of environmentally friendly timber-frame construction – Hampshire Gazette
- Unveiled – Architects Newspaper
- Construction begins on Leers Weinzapfel designed UMass Amherst Design Building – NE Real Estate Journal
- Building Big with Wood – The Woodland Steward
- Into the Wood – NE Forestry Foundation
Awards
- 2023 AIA Architecture Award, American Institute of Architects (AIA)
- 2020 AIA COTE Top Ten Award, American Institute of Architects (AIA)
- 2019 Merit Award, AIA New England
- 2019 Honorable Mention, DNA Design Awards Paris
- 2018 SCUP Merit Award for Excellence in Landscape Architecture – General Design, Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
- 2018 American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Engineering Excellence Awards, ACEC
- 2018 Wood Design Awards Jury’s Choice for Wood Innovation, WoodWorks
- 2018 Sustainable Design Honor Award, Boston Society of Architects
- 2018 Interiors Award, Boston Society of Architects
- 2018 American Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum
- 2018 Green Good Design Award, Chicago Athenaeum
- 2018 Sustainable Buildings Award, World Architecture News
- 2018 Magazine Award, Wood Design & Buildings
- 2018 Finalist, The Plan Award
- 2017 Building of the Year, world-architects
- 2017 Best Architecture of 2017, Wall Street Journal
- 2017 Most Innovative Project Award (less than $100 million), Architectural Engineering Institute
- 2017 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award (New Buildings $20 to $100 Million), National Council of Structural Engineering Associations
- 2017 Awards of Merit for Structural Systems Design and Architectural Engineering Integration, Architectural Engineering Institute
- 2017 Award of Merit, Higher Education/Research Category, ENR New England
- 2017 Wood Award Finalist, World Architecture News
- 2017 Honor Award, Boston Society of Architects