The Barack and Michelle Obama Teen Empowerment Center has been recognized with the 2025 Community Impact Award by the Rochester Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. This award recognizes architectural projects that make a significant, positive impact on their communities by going beyond aesthetics to enhance social, economic, and environmental well-being.
The Center for Teen Empowerment (TE) empowers young people as leaders and problem-solvers, uniting youth and adults to promote peace, equity, and justice in their community. Outgrowing its rented Rochester space, TE built its new headquarters on two vacant lots across Genesee Street, revitalizing the area with its first new development in decades. Keeping with the center’s mission of encouraging youth voice, the design team collaborated with youth organizers to shape the new headquarters around their needs, ideas, and how they used the previous space—creating an inspiring place to gather and grow.
Opened in 2024, the Barack and Michelle Obama Teen Empowerment Center expands TE’s mission to empower youth. The center’s name was chosen to reflect the inspiration and values associated with the Obamas and inspire the teens, staff, and community. More than a building; it’s a vibrant hub nurturing the potential, creativity, and resilience of Rochester’s youth.
Jury Comment:
“The jury recognized this project as an important asset to the community, reflecting a deep sense of purpose and relevance. They appreciated the clarity of the diagrams and found the inclusion of concept sketches particularly engaging. The project stood out as one that feels genuinely community-driven – clearly a ‘for us, by us’ effort. The level of community engagement demonstrated both the strong need for and the love of this new space.”
SWBR provided architectural, interior design, structural engineering, landscape architecture, and graphic design services for the project. Our design team accepted the award at the annual AIA Rochester awards celebration, Thursday, May 30 in Rochester, New York.