Centers and Labs

The School of Architecture and Planning is home to five internationally-regarded research centers through which students learn, work and collaborate with faculty and community partners.

Our faculty also hold leadership roles on university-wide research centers with transdisciplinary missions. This research infrastructure provides key applied learning, professional engagement and scholarship development opportunities for students across the disciplines of architecture, urban planning and environmental design.

Center for Architecture and Situated Technologies
10/25/17
The Center for Architecture and Situated Technologies (CAST) focuses on the evolving and growing implications of new technologies within the built environment: social, political, ecological and material.
Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access
5/27/25
The Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center) focuses on research, development, education, dissemination, and design projects related to accessibility and universal design.
Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab
1/28/20
The Food Systems Planning and Healthy Community Lab is dedicated to studying the role of planning and policy in facilitating sustainable food systems and healthy communities.
Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence
8/20/24
The Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence (RBC) is a research and educational center at the University at Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning focused on innovative thinking and conversation about the role of design in the complex process of city making.
UB Regional Institute
3/19/25
The UB Regional Institute/Urban Design Project is a major research enterprise for the School of Architecture and Planning.
Design with Resilient Environments Lab
5/24/23
The Design with Resilient Environments Lab (DRE_Lab) centers around how housing creates new contexts for facilitating resilience where sociospatial injustice and environmental degradation converge.
Building and Environment Visualization Lab
2/17/25
The Building and Environment Visualization Lab (BEVL) is a research hub that leverages advanced visualization, technology, and data-driven modeling to explore innovative solutions in architecture, urban resilience, and the built environment.

Transdisciplinary research programs with architecture and planning leadership

Community for Global Health Equity
2/13/25
The Community for Global Health Equity is a scholarly community of faculty and students in architecture, planning, public health, and engineering that works to reduce the sources and effects of inequity for communities around the world.
Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies
3/10/22
Building upon UB’s reputation as a leader in advanced manufacturing and design, UB's Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies (SMART) community will help create the next generation of technologies, processes and education.
Research and Education in Energy, Environment and Water
12/18/24
UB's RENEW (Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water) Institute focuses on the global challenge of sustaining society while adapting to climate change and evolving needs for energy, fresh water and other resources.