AIA Rochester, P. O. Box 22851, Rochester, NY (2026)

05/15/2026

AIA Rochester is pleased to announce the 2026 Design Awards Celebration at The Historic German House on Thursday, June 18th! We are giving a preview of the projects leading up to the event. Visit our bio for a link to the Design Awards webpage for tickets and sponsorships.

Project: ESL Headquarters Café Renovation
Architect: Design Space Studios
Owner: ESL
Photo Credit: B. Brand Studios

The design team provided comprehensive interior design, space planning, and furniture procurement services for the renovation of an existing café and conference suite. The reimagined environment is organized into a series of intentionally defined zones that support a range of functions throughout the workday. Through strategic spatial planning and curated furnishings, the design establishes a dynamic, flexible setting that accommodates collaboration, informal gathering, and focused work within a cohesive architectural framework.

Facebook: Design Space Studios, ESL, Hamilton Stern Construction LLC, Mood Media, Mannington Commercial, Rockfon, Teknion

Instagram: .commercial

05/13/2026

Please join us Thursday for an evening with Laura Cooney, AIA!

RSVP: https://www.aiaroc.org/events-1/wia-professional-practice-series-laura-cooney-aia-may-2026

We are honored to welcome Laura Cooney, AIA, NYS Certified Code Enforcement Official, for a presentation offering insights and guidance from her accomplished career. Laura is sole member and owner of LMC Codes, LLC and is respected throughout the state as an educator and expert consultant on building codes. Laura is a past president of AIA Rochester and has contributed to the chapter throughout her career. In 2025 Laura was the recipient of the Medal of Distinction, which is the highest honor AIA Rochester can confer on one of its members.

Laura joins us as part of our ongoing Women in Architecture Professional Practice Series.

05/13/2026

📣 Happening tomorrow!

The Women in Architecture Committee invites you to their ongoing Professional Practice Series featuring Laura Cooney, AIA, sharing real‑world guidance from over 30 years of experience in architecture and code consulting.

Come for the insights, stay for the conversation (and refreshments!).

🕠 5:30–7:00 PM | Fairport
✅ Pre-registration encouraged
✨See you there!

05/13/2026

AIA Rochester is pleased to announce the 2026 Design Awards Celebration at The Historic German House on Thursday, June 18th! We are giving a preview of the projects leading up to the event. Visit our bio for a link to the Design Awards webpage for tickets and sponsorships.

Project: Farash Foundation Office Renovation
Architect: Rozzi Architects
Owner: Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation
Photo Credit: REAL 3D Media

To breathe new life into a space that previously felt uncomfortable and outdated. The result is a bright, open workplace that reflects the foundation’s mission for transparency.

Post-COVID shifts eliminated the need for traditional reception and waiting areas, allowing the design to prioritize openness, visibility, and staff interaction. Inspired by Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language, which describes the kitchen as the social “heart” of a home, a custom-designed kitchenette anchors the suite. Positioned centrally within the plan, it serves as a welcoming hospitality-hub.
The client requested an open concept with bright finishes to boost morale while maintaining strong security and visual awareness throughout the suite. The new entrance sequence provides immediate visibility to key spaces, including the large conference room, front offices, kitchenette, and small conference room. Enhancing both transparency and workplace security. Floor-to-ceiling glass partitions enclose private offices and meeting rooms, maintaining openness while delivering acoustic control.

A living green wall introduces a biophilic element, improving air quality while promoting occupant wellness, productivity, and creativity. Custom millwork spans across ceilings, walls, and casework.
Conference rooms equipped with state-of-the-art audio/visual systems support hybrid meetings, bridging remote and in-person participation.

Facebook: Rozzi Architects, Plant Designs Inc, The Cabot Group, Mood Media, Workplace Interiors, Artisan Works, Artisan Kitchen and Baths
Instagram: @

05/11/2026

AIA Rochester is pleased to announce the 2026 Design Awards Celebration at The Historic German House on Thursday, June 18th! We are giving a preview of the projects leading up to the event. Visit our bio for a link to the Design Awards webpage for tickets and sponsorships.

Project: SUNY Plattsburgh Cardinal Nest
Architect: Edge Architecture
Owner: SUNY Plattsburgh
Photo Credit: Charles Tagliarino: Growtrends

The transformation of SUNY Plattsburgh’s Sundowner Café—now the Cardinal Nest—reimagines the campus center interior as a bright, welcoming “living room” for student life. The team reshaped 11,000 SF of fragmented dining and retail space into an open, contemporary environment where seating, food venues, and social zones flow together to foster collaboration and belonging. The space is filled with natural light from a continuous wall of windows, while an illuminated pergola with twinkle lights and Adirondack-style lounge seating creates a relaxed, campus-inspired gathering zone that encourages students to linger.

Warm, durable finishes, acoustic ceilings, layered decorative and ambient lighting, and imagery with school colors establish a cohesive identity rooted in campus pride. The interior prioritizes choice and comfort: booths, communal tables, high-tops, soft seating, and conference-style work areas with integrated displays support dining, studying, presentations, and group work. Removing the visual barriers of former counters and registers opened sightlines between seating and culinary stations, reinforcing a contemporary marketplace atmosphere and shared experience. Kiosk and mobile ordering, a student-controlled sound system, and flexible furnishings further support semester-to-semester adaptability.

The Cardinal Nest serves as SUNY Plattsburgh’s social heart—a vibrant, student destination that strengthens community, enhances recruitment, and elevates everyday campus life.

Facebook: Edge Architecture, SUNY Plattsburgh, MLB Construction Services, Jade Stone Engineering
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05/08/2026

AIA Rochester is pleased to announce the 2026 Design Awards Celebration at The Historic German House on Thursday, June 18th! We are giving a preview of the projects leading up to the event. Visit our bio for a link to the Design Awards webpage for tickets and sponsorships.

Project: SWBR Corporate Headquarters
Architect: SWBR
Owner: David Lamb

At a time when hybrid work is fragmenting firm culture and downtowns across the country are striving to retain professional life, the client’s Rochester headquarters proposes an alternative: architecture can actively repair both. The project transforms an existing office floor into a deliberately anti-hierarchical workplace that redistributes daylight, views, and amenities away from individual offices and toward shared experience. The design positions the workplace as a civic interior, reflecting the firm’s belief that collaboration, equity, and connection are architectural responsibilities.
Research and firm-wide engagement confirmed evolving work patterns and a desire for flexibility, well-being, and meaningful in-person collaboration. In response, the design integrates interior greenery – green walls, planters, and indoor gardens – that fosters a biophilic environment, enhances air quality, and supports mental and physical health. Collaboration spaces occupy the most desirable locations, while individual workstations serve as flexible “home bases,” balancing privacy with shared experience.
The plan harmonizes quiet, collaborative, and social environments through acoustic zoning, varied spatial scales, and thoughtful material choices. Sustainability strategies prioritize reuse over replacement; retaining the existing building and furniture extends embodied energy and reduces material waste, contributing to LEED Silver certification. The projects thoughtful workplace design can strengthen organizational culture, enhance occupant wellness, and create meaningful connections to the broader community.

Facebook: SWBR, Hamilton Stern Construction, M/E Engineering, Carami & Associates
Instagram:

05/06/2026

AIA Rochester is pleased to announce the 2026 Design Awards Celebration at The Historic German House on Thursday, June 18th! We are giving a preview of the projects leading up to the event. Visit our bio for a link to the Design Awards webpage for tickets and sponsorships.

Project: Greece Community and Senior Center
Architect: Passero Associates
Owner: Don Cochran

As the largest town in Monroe County, the demand for services at the Greece Community and Senior Center had eclipsed the available space in the building. To better serve residents, the project includes the renovation of the existing facility and an addition of nearly 32,000 SF. The Community Center project provides new facilities for all age groups, including a toddler gym, fitness center, run/walk track, multi-purpose rooms, and a senior lounge.

The run/walk track was a critical element in the design to unite the existing building and addition. The switchback path extended the length of the track from 1/17th of a mile to 1/5th, utilizing an elevated bridge with wide views of the surrounding landscape. Natural light is prevalent throughout the addition with large windows and an expansive translucent, energy-efficient skylight. The addition features a rotunda, which faces the main road and ties the Community Center to the new Children’s Library on the same campus.

The project scope included structural engineering, civil engineering, topographic & boundary surveying, architectural design, code review, construction administration, recreation planning and interior design services. All disciplines collaborated on existing conditions assessment, planning, and design of a cohesive and aesthetically pleasing exterior shell and interior space. The comprehensive design incorporated the desired style and purpose of the Town of Greece, while integrating ergonomics, sustainability, and accessibility.

Facebook: Passero Associates, Town of Greece, Christa Construction, EC4B Engineering, P.C.
Instagram:

05/04/2026

AIA Rochester is pleased to announce the 2026 Design Awards Celebration at The Historic German House on Thursday, June 18th! We are giving a preview of the projects leading up to the event. Visit our bio for a link to the Design Awards webpage for tickets and sponsorships.

Project: University of Rochester School of Nursing – Helen Wood Hall Entry Study
Architect: MRB Group
Owner: Rendering by architect (unbuilt)

The Helen Wood Hall Entry Study explored opportunities to create a new front door and Welcome Center for the University of Rochester School of Nursing. The design team was engaged to help identify potential locations for a new building program that enhances visibility and accessibility to the school. The building program has been split into three components – A student welcome center and gathering space, an admission suite, and building support spaces. Total building program represents approximately 7,000 square feet.

Several design options were developed with the vision of establishing a highly visible and welcoming beacon that reflects the future of the School of Nursing. The proposed Welcome Center is an inviting, engaging, and student-focused environment that unifies the school by consolidating student services, improving circulation, and strengthening wayfinding, all while anticipating future expansion and designed for long-term flexibility.

Four preliminary design concepts were explored and reviewed with a committee representing the School of Nursing, with two options being developed further. Each option presented a unique aesthetic and site location, allowing the team to evaluate critical decisions regarding programming, spatial layout, and overall functionality of Helen Wood Hall. The study will also support fundraising efforts by engaging potential donors to advance the project.

Facebook: MRB Group, University of Rochester
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05/01/2026

AIA Rochester is pleased to announce the 2026 Design Awards Celebration at The Historic German House on Thursday, June 18th! We are giving a preview of the projects leading up to the event. Visit our bio for a link to the Design Awards webpage for tickets and sponsorships.

Project: Foodlink Expansion Project
Architect: SWBR
Owner: Foodlink

This nonprofit recently acquired ownership of an adjacent former church. There is a strong desire to utilize the existing culture here to establish a community center. A new facility offering storage solutions, a resource for community engagement, education, and potential job incubation is exactly the type of long-term growth they seek with their community programs. During the design process, the client and the design team sought input from current farmers, neighbors, community leadership, and neighborhood associations in a series of community engagement charettes to inform the project program and give the neighborhood a voice. The new facility offers meeting and program spaces designed to be safe and inclusive. The Edible Education Center – a multipurpose space can accommodate about 100 people. The space is available to the public for gatherings and events. A smaller meeting space is also available to the community and is accompanied by offices for farm staff, toilet rooms accessible from the exterior farm areas, and secure storage for critical farm equipment, such as honey extractors. A new 2,000 square foot greenhouse enables year-round growth and teaching. The new facility at the Community Farm has already proven itself a valuable resource to the community. It delivers improved growing capacity, food availability, opportunities for education, and offers a place to gather, engage, and share the bounty of the nonprofit’s mission.

Facebook: SWBR, Foodlink, Milestone Construction Partners, Erdmann Anthony, JM Davidson, RPK Landscape Architecture, Hamilton Stern

Instagram:

04/29/2026

AIA Rochester is pleased to announce the 2026 Design Awards Celebration at The Historic German House on Thursday, June 18th! We are giving a preview of the projects leading up to the event. Visit our bio for a link to the Design Awards webpage for tickets and sponsorships.

Project: Hearth House
Owner: Mark A. Pandolf
Architect: PLAN Architectural Studio, PC
Photo Credit: Tim Wilkes Photography
Hearth House is the thoughtful organization of residential structures in an agrarian architype, centered on the renovation of an 1890 farmhouse. The new structures are in keeping with the form, massing and fenestration of the former farmhouse, with contemporary detailing to differentiate the old and new.

Hearth House is the realization of an Architect's vision to: 1) Save and rehabilitate the farmhouse, keeping its character-defining elements while introducing period-compatible cladding, roofing, and fenestration; and 2) Create a grouping of agrarian architype structures that wrap around an exterior courtyard, including a contemporary residential addition, free-standing garage-workshop, and an existing 1905 Barn.

Covered porches and large fenestration tie the exterior to the interior, offering beautiful views, simple circulation, and outdoor gathering space. The central "Hearth Room" opens to the west, highlighting the courtyard and landscape beyond.

A glazed foyer links the farmhouse to its new addition, while clearly identifying their separate forms. The farmhouse framing, massing, window openings, and stone foundation were maintained, while new nickel gap siding creates uniform cladding throughout.

Hearth House provides a tranquil and calming family homestead and neighborhood asset.

Facebook: PLAN PC, Rabetoy Construction, Battisti Builders, Torchia Structural Engineering & Design
Instagram: structural engineering & design

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