Deltek Celebrates Customers Building Environments That Sustain Communities

Every year, World Architecture Day offers us a chance to reflect on how the built environment shapes our lives, and in 2025, that reflection carries an especially timely message. Established in 1985 by the International Union of Architects (UIA), World Architecture Day is celebrated annually on the first Monday of October in parallel with the United Nations' World Habitat Day. This year, both observances fall on Monday, October 6, with the UIA setting the theme "Design for Strength."

At its core, "Design for Strength" calls for architects and designers to think beyond shelter and aesthetics, and instead focus on resilience, adaptability, and continuity. The theme urges us to embrace strategies that allow buildings and communities to withstand disruption, whether caused by natural disaster, human conflict, or societal change and to recover, rebuild, and thrive. In a world where crises can upend lives overnight, these principles remind us that architecture is not just about creating spaces—it's about building strength for the people who inhabit them.

BRS Designs Resilient Community Gathering Places

Keith Hayes of Barker Rinker Seacat (BRS), a Deltek customer, brings a unique perspective to this year's World Architecture Day theme of "Design for Strength." Though trained as an architect, Hayes also oversees accounting and IT, giving him both a design and business leader's view of how architecture impacts communities. For BRS, the theme is not abstract; it is a guiding principle of their practice. For five decades, the firm has specialized in community recreation and aquatic centers, projects that are often once-in-a-generation investments for municipalities. Keith emphasized “These facilities must be durable, flexible, and sustainable as well as able to serve as a source of pride for residents for 30 to 50 years.” The team approaches each project with an eye toward longevity and community identity, ensuring that the buildings reflect the people and place where they are built.

The Center of Recreational Excellence (CORE)

One example Keith shared is the Hobbs, New Mexico, community facility, which exemplifies "Design for Strength" in action. Supported by six local organizations, the project brought together leadership and funding to create a multi-functional hub serving the town's 40,000 residents and the surrounding region. The design celebrates Hobbs's desert environment and energy-driven culture through thematic architecture, natural materials, and innovative features. The CORE integrates a 24,000-square-foot gymnasium, expansive aquatic spaces, therapy pools, and a three-story indoor play structure for all ages. It also provides multipurpose event rooms, fitness zones, and community gathering areas, making it both a recreation destination and a civic centerpiece.

Environmental responsiveness was another guiding principle. The architects drew inspiration from local oil rig patterns to design a perforated metal scrim that shields the building from harsh desert sun and wind. Beyond functionality, it creates a dramatic interplay of light and shadow, enhancing the visitor experience while reducing energy costs. Local quarried stone, expansive desert views, and thematic nods to the landscape root the building in its cultural and geographic context, making it unmistakably of Hobbs.

This project highlights how BRS embodies the theme for World Architecture Day by making a lasting impact through thoughtful, community-centered design. By blending durability, cultural relevance, and collaboration, Hayes and his team ensure their work strengthens not just the built environment but also the social fabric of the communities they serve.

These design decisions showcase how BRS approaches Design for Strength: not simply as durability, but as a holistic commitment to cultural expression, environmental stewardship, inclusivity, and community pride. The Hobbs facility is more than a recreation center, it's a model of how architecture can foster resilience, connection, and identity for future generations.

MSP Builds Both Sustainable Infrastructure and Stronger Communities

Randy Merrill, an architect at McGill Smith Punshon, a Deltek customer, recently reflected on the meaning of this year's World Architecture Day theme. He emphasized that "strength" can be understood in many ways—durability, sustainability, community impact, and long-term resilience. In his view, two of his firm's recent projects, Pitt Ohio and the Cincinnati Scholar House, embody this theme in distinct but equally important ways.

Pitt Ohio: Building for Energy Sustainability

The Pitt Ohio truck terminal exemplifies strength through its commitment to sustainability. Designed as a net-zero facility, it generates as much energy as it consumes by combining wind turbines, solar panels with battery storage, and a geothermal mechanical system. Randy remarked, “This approach is unusual for a truck terminal—an industrial facility not typically associated with environmental responsibility. Yet Pitt Ohio wanted to invest in a facility that would last 40–50 years, embodying durability and forward-looking responsibility.” The project achieved LEED Gold certification, ensuring reliable, around-the-clock operations while dramatically reducing its environmental footprint.

Cincinnati Scholar House: Strengthening the Community

While Pitt Ohio emphasizes environmental strength, the Cincinnati Scholar House illustrates strength in terms of community support. A collaboration among four local universities—University of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky University, Mount Saint Joseph, and Xavier—the project provides housing for single parents with children who want to pursue higher education. The facility includes a daycare center, affordable housing, and direct access to public transportation, enabling parents to attend school without sacrificing childcare or stability. Randy described it as one of the most impactful projects his firm has ever worked on, because it allows families to break cycles of hardship and build stronger futures. In this case, design for strength means designing for human resilience and opportunity.

As we celebrate World Architecture Day, it’s clear that “Design for Strength” is more than a theme—it’s a responsibility. From BRS’s project, The CORE in Hobbs, New Mexico to MSP’s work on Pitt Ohio and the Cincinnati Scholar House, Deltek customers are showing how architecture can sustain not only structures, but also the people, cultures, and communities they serve. Their projects remind us that true strength lies in resilience, collaboration, and a vision for the future. At Deltek, we’re proud to partner with firms that bring this vision to life, building environments that endure and inspire future generations.