The Buffalo State Hospital (originally named the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane) in Buffalo, New York was opened in 1880, and was completed construction in 1896. The hospital was built under the Kirkbride Plan which was a building design theory for mental institutions created by American psychiatrist, doctor Thomas Story Kirkbride. The plan consisted of Kirkbride’s "linear plan" asylum with a central administration building with staggering patient wings on each side, resembling the shape of bat wings. One wing would be for male patents, and the other would be for female patients . Kirkbride structures were built with tall ceilings, lots of natural light and airflow due to the layout of the staggered buildings, and many colors. These attributes fit in with Thomas Kirkbride’s theory of aiding the cure to mental illness with the environment. This plan was put in place for the construction of many mental institutions around the United States, with the Buffalo State Hospital being one of them. This hospital was constructed in such a way that the furthest wings from the center admin building were for patients deemed violent, with the buildings closer to the admin building being for patients of lesser dangerous behaviors. The buildings were designed in a High Victorian Gothic style with two massive towers on top of the admin building, and beautiful interior details including wood, and stone carvings, tile flooring, archways, high ceilings, and many colors among each ward. The hospital continued to function over the years, however like the majority of mental institutions, the now named Buffalo Psychiatric Center began to decline due to the rise of psychotropic drugs such as thorazine which came into play. This lead to the construction of the Strozzi Building where many patients were moved in the early 1970’s for a more modern care system. In order to construct the newer facility, sections of the male wing of the Kirkbride were demolished in order to make space. The demolition of parts of the male wing led to the rest of the standing complex to be placed on the national register of historic places however, with protectio against any more demolition. At this point, the remaining wings of the male wing and the female wing were closing down over the course of the 1970’s and 1980’s as the Buffalo Psychiatric Center moved into the newer facility. The center administration building of the Kirkbride remained in use however until 1993 when hospital administration was moved into the newer facility. At this point, all of the original structures were abandoned, and deteriorating badly from neglect from the state. Years later, the state of New York faced law suits surrounding the neglect of historic buildings. This led to many accounts of stabilization orders of the old Buffalo State Hospital. After the property had been abandoned, and closed to the public for decades, the property was sold, and a new masterplan was underway to renovate the buildings and revamp it into a hotel and potential apartments. The property was cleaned up, and was given the name of the Richardson Olmsted Campus which takes after the name of the architect who designed the Buffalo State Hospital. Eventually, the admin building, and the first two wards on each side were renovated, and opened as Hotel Henry in 2017. When the Covid pandemic hit, the hotel began losing business, and had to shut down temporarily. In 2022, the Richardson Center Corporation has partnered with Douglas Development to reimagine the hotel and conference center and relaunch them as the Richardson Hotel which opened in 2023. The admin building, and the first two renovated wards are now a luxury hotel renovated in a way that stays true to the legacy of the Buffalo State Hospital’s original designs. While much of the complex has been renovated and opened to the public, huge sections of the Kirkbride are still abandoned to this day, awaiting future reuse. There are plans to renovate the rest of the unrenovated wards of the female wing for more hotel space, and apartments, but these renovations are moving slowly. The unrenovated ward of the male wing currently has no plans to be renovated, and will likely continue to decay.