Truist Leadership Institute

Of this wooded retreat center, architect Jeffrey Sowers notes, “Sometimes people think of steel as cold and hard. But in this project, it is just the opposite. Steel helped us make it warm, fuzzy, and inviting.” He adds that the intent was for the vertical steel structural columns to feel like trees married to heavy timber-framed roof trusses that act as branches—with a large roof overhang becoming the “tree” canopy.

Click here to learn more about this IDEAS² Award-winning project.