The Director of the National Park Service has announced that the Robert T. Coles House and Studio in Buffalo’s Hamlin Park neighborhood has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. This year is the earliest that it could be added to this prestigious list of the nation’s most significant buildings.

Designed by Coles for his primary residence and architectural studio in 1961, the Modern-styled building has been home to Coles and his wife Sylvia for 50 years. The National Park Service has recognized its pioneering and innovative architectural style.

A Buffalo native, Coles is one of the area’s and the nation’s most prominent architects with a career spanning over half a century. Trained in architecture at the University of Minnesota and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Coles worked for pre-fabricated housing pioneer Carl Koch in Boston, designing Techbuilt homes in the late 1950s, before returning to Buffalo in 1961 to design and build the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center in the city’s Willert Park neighborhood.

Throughout his career, Coles has designed many significant structures including the University at Buffalo’s Alumni Arena (1983), transforming the former War Memorial Stadium into the Johnnie B. Wiley Amateur Athletic Sports Pavilion (1993), and the Frank E. Merriwhether Library (2006).

Coles has received many awards throughout his career, including an American Institute of Architects Award of Merit, received in 1963 for his residence. Coles was also been honored by the AIA New York State Chapter in 2004 for his lifetime service as an architect. The American Institute of Architects designated him a Fellow, its highest honor, and he has served as a Chancellor of the College of Fellows. Coles is also nationally recognized for encouraging African-Americans and women to become architects.

“It feels like we moved in only yesterday. Sylvia and I are honored that our wonderful home of so many years has been nationally recognized as an historic house,” stated Coles. “I designed it as a ground-breaking way to live in the city, and its architecture has served us very well.”

The nomination was prepared by Architectural Historian Jennifer Walkowski and Clinton Brown, FAIA, of Clinton Brown Company Architecture.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to work with Mr. Coles on nominating his house and studio,” commented Walkowski. “As an architectural historian, I don’t often get the opportunity to speak to the architect who conceived and designed the building.”