LLB Opens Worcester Office
In July 2018, LLB Architects opened a new office in the historic Stevens Building, located at 40 Southbridge Street, in the heart of downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. LLB worked closely with the City of Worcester’s Business and Community Development Division to select a location embedded in the city center. LLB chose a building similar in character to its Pawtucket office, an industrial 19th-century brick building converted to modern professional office space.
LLB selected Worcester as the location for its new Massachusetts office based on the growing development activity within the City and surrounding areas. The firm is excited to be part of a community that values revitalizing historic buildings and improving urban environments, as it aligns with the firm’s work in adaptive re-use along with new construction that respects historic neighborhoods. Worcester’s concentration of municipal, institutional, educational, and commercial clients offers many opportunities for LLB to contribute to the growth of the area. The firm also plans to contribute to the revitalization of Worcester through the development of a building similar to its Design Exchange headquarters in Pawtucket, RI. Currently, LLB is working with the Worcester Public Library. It served as the Project Architect of the recently completed Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center. The history of LLB Architects is rich and varied since its founding in 1936 in Providence, Rhode Island as an engineering practice by Samuel Lerner, a structural engineer and professor at Brown University. In 2011, the firm moved to the Design Exchange in Pawtucket, a historic mill building which was purchased and developed by partners Christian J. Ladds and Kathleen A. Bartels. The firm currently has 10 registered architects and half of the employees are LEED accredited professionals. Serving clients in the municipal, institutional, educational, and commercial markets within New England, the firm focuses on designing buildings with sustainable practice and environmental consciousness; contributing to the contextual fabric of a place and creating a positive impact on the surrounding community. The above photograph is of the Stevens Building, built in the mid-19th century, from its listing on National Register of Historic Places in 1980.