studio gang and lincoln road plan forest retreat for women’s leadership

Women’s Leadership Center to take root in Williams Bay

Studio Gang, the visionary architecture practice led by Jeanne Gang, and Lincoln Road Enterprises, the philanthropic force behind women’s leadership advancement, are joining forces in the forested folds of Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Their collaboration has yielded the Women’s Leadership Center — a new retreat and cultural campus perched above the glacial waters of Geneva Lake. Slated to open in 2026, the 24,000-square-foot center broke ground in July 2024 and signals a radical rethinking of how architecture can nurture dialogue, growth, and, perhaps most importantly, perspective.

The team envisions the project as a sanctuary. Informed by the ecology of the oak savanna and the shimmering lake nearby, the Center’s architecture operates like a forest canopy: generous in form, porous to light, and tuned to the rhythms of the land. Jeanne Gang likens the design to ‘gaps in the tree canopy,’ allowing light to spill into interiors much like sunlight reaches the forest floor — evoking the quiet intelligence of ‘crown shyness.’ It’s a subtle but powerful metaphor for leadership: clarity without glare.

visualizations © Studio Gang

Studio Gang and Lincoln Road Blur Architecture and Ecosystem

Together, architecture practice Studio Gang and philanthropic organization Lincoln Road understand the significance of Geneva Lake — not just as a scenic retreat, but as a historical node of intellectual discovery. With the famed Yerkes Observatory a stone’s throw away, the Women’s Leadership Center is poised to inherit the region’s legacy of forward-thinking inquiry. ‘Tomorrow starts here,’ says Ann Drake, Founder of the Center and President of Lincoln Road Enterprises. It’s a poetic mission — offering a space for professional women to connect, decompress, and catalyze new possibilities that ripple outward from the woods of Wisconsin to boardrooms, classrooms, and institutions worldwide.

The team proposes a built environment that behaves like an ecosystem. Gently curving forms mirror the forest’s organic geometries, while wide windows open the interior to uninterrupted views of lake and trees. Natural materials — white oak harvested on-site, locally sourced Wisconsin stone — ensure the buildings feel like extensions of the land rather than interruptions. Within this context, gathering becomes more than an agenda item. Whether dining beneath the oaks or reflecting in a skylit room, every moment is nested in nature.

Studio Gang and Lincoln Road unveil the Women’s Leadership Center in Williams Bay, Wisconsin

sustainability without performativity

Studio Gang and Lincoln Road organize the Center as three distinct yet interconnected structures: the Lodge, the Council, and the Cabin. The Lodge offers large-scale social space with indoor-outdoor continuity thanks to two terraces that flow into the woods. The Council houses meeting rooms for collaborative work arranged around a verdant courtyard. Finally, the Cabin provides overnight accommodation for experts-in-residence — compact, quiet, and intentional. Together, the trio activates an 8.6-acre site with meandering paths, accessible landscaping, and the kind of spatial variety that mirrors the spectrum of leadership styles.

Studio Gang and Lincoln Road pursued ecological intelligence not as a checklist, but as a mode of thinking. By preserving topography, elevating parts of the structure for airflow, and orienting buildings to catch lake breezes, the design avoids mechanical overcomplication. Cross-ventilation, mass timber, low-carbon concrete, and regionally sourced materials all contribute to a lighter footprint — just enough to make LEED Gold achievable without being the story. In this way, sustainability becomes structural, not performative.

the retreat will support innovation, collaboration, and leadership development for professional women