Peter Flynn, AIA and Ronald Battaglia, FAIA were awarded the American Institute of Architects, Buffalo Western New York Chapter’s Robert and Louise Bethune Award, the highest honor bestowed by the AIA Buffalo/WNY chapter. Each year, this award is presented to an architect or architects recognizing a lifetime of notable contribution to the architecture profession through exemplary professional practice, dedicated mentorship, and community leadership.
Peter Flynn, AIA, serving as the design leader of the firm, is an architect with a great talent for carefully listening to client’s expectations and designing buildings with an intriguing blend of commodity and imagination. An acknowledged regional expert in historic architecture, he has served on the Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN) board for many years, currently serving as co-chair of the group. Through PBN, he has collaborated with the National Trust and the NYS Preservation League to review the historic impact of the proposed Chautauqua Institute’s amphitheater project. PBN is also leading the local citizen’s historic advocacy group. In addition, he serves on the Design Committee of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy and has served on the architecture, planning and design panel of the NYS Council on the Arts.
Ronald Battaglia FAIA is the managing partner of Flynn Battaglia Architects and has led the firm’s business development. An architect with an affinity for business, Ron is able to balance his project management and finance skills with his creative talent for developing unique places with lasting impressions. A strong advocate for the profession, Ron has served on the local and state boards of the American Institute of Architects and also acted as Vice President of Community Portfolio in 2005-2006. He is currently serving on the scholarship committee of the WNY AIA and is a member of the National Architectural Accreditation Board where he is frequently called upon to review and evaluate fledgling architecture programs in Colleges from Puerto Rico to North Dakota.
Peter and Ron began Flynn Battaglia Architects in 1989, currently celebrating 25 years in business. The firm grew quickly in the early years of existence with several successful commissions including projects at Cornell and St. Bonaventure Universities. The American Indian Program House on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, NY was the initial project for the firm. Known as Akwe:kon, (Mohawk for “All of us”), the design of this residential college (dormitory) building focused on the importance of Native American culture, specifically the Iroquois Confederacy of tribes which inhabit the region. This was followed soon after by a new Fine Arts Center at Saint Bonaventure University named for Regina A. Quick. College and University projects continue to be one of the core strengths of the firm, including current projects at SUNY Fredonia, Daemen College, Buffalo State College and SUNY Brockport.
In 2004, the firm was commissioned to prepare a master plan for the Buffalo Inner Harbor following the historic pattern of the streets and canals laying the ground work for the redevelopment of Buffalo’s waterfront. The Naval and Servicemen’s Military Museum and Park followed soon after which included reconstructing the historic Commercial Slip, the terminus of the Erie Canal.
The firm is now well recognized as the region’s premier historic preservation architects. Most recently, Flynn Battaglia has been selected to lead the architectural team of the Richardson Olmsted Complex’s adaptive reuse to a 88 room urban resort hotel, conference and event center, and the future home of the Buffalo Architecture Center. Construction of the 180,000-square-foot project is currently underway and is scheduled to be complete in the fall of 2016.
Some of the other notable past assignments include the restoration of Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building in downtown Buffalo, the Erie Community College City Campus in the original Buffalo Post Office, restoration of the Main Dome of the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, and a Master Plan and implementation of multiple projects at the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora.
Flynn Battaglia Architects is an architectural firm focusing on design, historic preservation, and planning for higher education, housing and community projects. It has an award-winning portfolio including national historic landmarks, colleges and universities, waterfronts and cultural resources. Based in downtown Buffalo for the past 25 years, the firm works collaboratively with Owners to provide unique solutions that deliver innovative, environmentally sensitive and cost conscious design.