The Jewel of Buffalo
The City of Buffalo has newly embraced the Olmsted Campus as a pinnacle of peace and urban character. Its history is artful and spirited, and it’s still in the making – evolving. The Richardson Hotel stands proudly in its refurbishment, honoring the Buffalo community.
The City Of Good Neighbors
Buffalo Historical Tour
The Olmsted Campus is being given back to the Buffalo community. Residents and local organizations have passionately taken on acquiring the National Historic Landmark designation, campus building restorations, and the “re-greening” of the grounds. These 40+ acres of land in the heart of Buffalo are to be our welcoming place for tranquil gathering and recreation. And The Richardson Hotel is the conduit through which visitors may learn and explore.
See all of Olmstead Campus
Getting To Campus
Located in the heart of Buffalo, New York, the Richardson Olmsted Campus connects diverse surrounding communities—the West Side, North Buffalo, Buffalo State College, and the Elmwood Village. Whether you’re coming by car, bus, or bike, it’s easy to get here and find your way around.
Celebrating the Past
Paving the Way to the Future
Buffalo is blending new ideas with its 19th-century heritage. Here is a place where we celebrate the architecture of H.H. Richardson and Frederick Law Olmsted landscape design. These bring significance to our community and inspiration to our educational tours, which are mindfully planned with representatives from our neighborhoods, cultural institutions, the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, SUNY Buffalo State, businesses, and historic preservation organizations.
Historic Landmark
Site History
The Richardson Olmsted Campus in Buffalo, New York, United States, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The site was designed by the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson in concert with the famed landscape team of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in the late 1800s, incorporating a system of treatment for people with mental illness developed by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride known as the Kirkbride Plan.
Over the years, as mental health treatment changed and resources were diverted, the buildings and grounds slowly deteriorated. By 1974, the last patients were removed from the historic wards. On June 24, 1986, the former Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane was added to the National Historic Landmark registry. In 2006, the Richardson Center Corporation was formed to restore the buildings.
Today, the Richardson Olmsted Campus is being converted, beginning with the now open Hotel Richardson within the Towers Building and two flanking buildings (about one-third of the Campus).
Future plans for the site include the construction of a new museum in Buffalo's cultural corridor, known as the Lipsey Architecture Center Buffalo. The museum will focus on the city's rich architectural history and collection of now-preserved buildings.
Campus Partners
RCC
The Richardson Olmsted Campus has been owned by the non-profit Richardson Center Corporation since 2006. The RCC oversaw the rehabilitation and reuse of the three center buildings on Campus and first opened the hotel back in 2017. The RCC acts as the steward of all 45-acres and 500,000sqft.
Guided by Campus Leadership, the Richardson Olmsted Campus’s mission is to connect the past, present, and future through the reimagination and revitalization of this National Historic Landmark, on the way to realizing the organization’s vision of becoming a national model for preservation, progress, and sustainability.
LACB
The Lipsey Architecture Center Buffalo is another non-profit located on Campus that is dedicated to celebrating Western New York’s rich architectural legacy. The LACB handles all of the tours, exhibits, and academic programming on Campus. The LACB gallery on the first floor of the Towers Building has a 24/7 gallery that focuses on general Buffalo architecture, as well as the mental health history of the site.
The Lipsey Architecture Center Buffalo explores excellence in architecture and city planning as demonstrated by Buffalo’s outstanding architectural heritage.
Located in the Richardson Olmsted Campus, the LACB will provide orientation, prompt inspiration, and serve as a gathering place to launch new ideas related to architecture, landscape, and design. Through exhibitions, tours, programs, and outreach, the LACB engages the public in Buffalo’s architecture, landscape design, and urban planning, and its role in culture and design literacy.