Laura Latham

Laura Latham is a Design Director at Gensler, an architecture, design and planning firm with 48 locations and more than 6,000 professionals networked across the globe. For 20 years at Gensler, she has served multiple industries, helping to make the places people live, work, and play more inspiring and impactful through the power of their brand.

Currently, she is the brand maker and keeper for the Gensler Research Institute and oversees the design of all published reports. The Research Institute is a collaborative network of researchers focused on a common goal: to generate new knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of the connection between design, business, and the human experience. Through a combination of global and local research grants, and external partnerships, the Institute seeks insight focused on solving the world’s most pressing challenges.

Laura’s personal interest has been on longevity and intergenerational community models—connecting physical and social architecture to create sustainable solutions for our rapidly changing demographics. Her multi-year Gensler research effort, “Building BoomTown”, has resulted in a framework for a multi-generational, mixed-use, integrated community that can be developed in any number of urban settings. She is a magnet for fellow catalysts and partners from all business sectors in embracing new approaches toward building age-inclusive communities. With her partners, she is developing three urban visualizations as a platform for developers, planners, investors, policy leaders and care providers in future urban development.

[Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.]