Ideas

Our design process guides us to plan for today’s requirements and prepare for tomorrow’s unknowns. Here we pull back the curtain on our practice to share that process with you.

Design Your Future: ZGF Announces 2026 Scholarship Recipients

ZGF is thrilled to announce this year's scholarship recipients. 

Community
May 04, 2026

Designing Multifamily Communities That Perform

Today’s successful multifamily communities must support a wide range of lifestyles, offering varied unit types, amenities, and experiences that remain relevant across life stages. ZGF's approach to multifamily and mixed-use design is grounded in a deep understanding of both local market dynamics and site-specific conditions.

Community
April 27, 2026

University of New Mexico Selects ZGF | McClain + Yu, a Joint Venture, to Design New Medical School

ZGF and McClain + Yu Architecture & Design have been selected to design a new state-of-the-art facility for The University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Medicine. Projected to double the School’s enrollment over the next decade, the facility will help expand New Mexico’s healthcare workforce of the future and address the demand for more providers across the region.

News
October 13, 2025

Spotlight: Joseph Appiah Reflects on His Summer Internship at ZGF

Joseph Appiah, a 2025 recipient of ZGF’s Emerging Black Architects Scholarship, reflects on his intern experience in the D.C. office this summer.

Community
August 14, 2025
Stanford University’s Central Energy Facility

Powering AI Responsibly: A New Era for Data Center Design

As AI drives demand for digital infrastructure, ZGF explores how design strategies from other building typologies can help make data centers more community-focused and sustainable.

Community
August 06, 2025

Children's Hospitals as Unique as the Patients They Serve

ZGF is known for designing beautiful children’s hospitals. Decades of insights fuel us to design facilities that enable health systems to deliver the best pediatric care while allowing kids to be kids—even while they’re in the hospital.

Community
July 29, 2025

The “Town Square”: A New Paradigm for Medical Education Buildings That Places Community at the Heart of the Experience

The “town-square” approach to designing med-ed buildings involves the layering of key programmatic elements interwoven with welcoming informal spaces.

Methodology
May 12, 2025

Design Your Future: ZGF Announces 2025 Scholarship Recipients

ZGF is thrilled to announce this year’s scholarship recipients.

News
April 14, 2025

Building Champions: Designing Sports Facilities That Elevate Performance, Culture, and Community

Methodology
December 02, 2024

Cultivating a Replicable and Transparent Wood Supply Chain at PDX Airport

Portland International Airport is the first major airport in the US with a mass timber roof.

Sustainability
August 13, 2024

Design Your Future: ZGF Announces 2024 Scholarship Recipients

ZGF is thrilled to announce this year’s Norm Zimmer Scholarship and Emerging Black Architects Scholarship recipients.

News
May 01, 2024

Maternal Fetal Medicine Improves Outcomes for Parents & Babies

With a growing population of newborns needing access to neonatal intensive care, more health systems are co-locating their maternal fetal programs within children’s hospitals.

Community
April 24, 2024