Richardson Hotel

The Richardson Hotel in Buffalo, New York is considered one of the city’s most iconic architectural landmarks. Originally built as the Richardson Olmsted Campus, the site opened as the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane in 1880.

Designed by architect Henry Hobson Richardson in Romanesque style, the State Asylum was conceived in collaboration with Philadelphia psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride who sought to improve medical care for mental health patients. Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who designed New York City’s Central Park, was the designer of the campus grounds and gardens.

The State Asylum emulated The Kirkbride Plan, a style of asylum design advocated by Dr. Kirkbride. These asylums, often referred to as Kirkbride Buildings, were built around the idea that the physical space itself could provide healing.

At its peak, the State Asylum housed 600 beds and provided healing, rehabilitation and work for patients. Spacious and brightly lit corridors served as communal spaces for conversation, activities and relaxation. As mental health treatment evolved over the 20th century, many Kirkbride Buildings were decommissioned. The Buffalo State Asylum operated until the mid-1970s.

Preservation efforts of the building began in 2006. Today, the former campus now houses an 88-room hotel, a conference center and restaurants along with the Buffalo Architecture Center. Regarded as one of Richardson’s most lauded designs, The Richardson Hotel is also a designated National Historic Landmark.