Johns Hopkins Milton S. Eisenhower Library
Johns Hopkins Milton S. Eisenhower Library
Baltimore, Maryland
America’s first Research University, Johns Hopkins University, has been an anchor institution in Baltimore since 1876. Located on multiple campuses across the City, the heart of the University is at the 140-acre Olmsted Brothers-designed Homewood Campus, home to engineering and the Schools of Arts and Sciences. Sitting prominently above the colloquially termed “Beach,” The Milton S. Eisenhower Library is the University’s principal research library and the largest in a network of libraries at Johns Hopkins. The Eisenhower Library was an engineering feat when it first opened in 1964, with a collection housing over 3.8 million volumes, 121,000 journal subscriptions and thirty miles of shelf space. Only two of the MSE library’s six stories are above ground, the rest are below grade.
Joining a nationally recognized team, Unknown Studio was responsible for the careful insertion of a contemporary, universally accessible entrance on both the east (Beach) and west (Quad) sides of the building. With tight existing conditions and an established campus tapestry including herringbone brick, bluestone, marble and a native woodland, the new entries seamlessly tie the bustling atrium of the renovated library into the adjacent campus landscapes.
More than just a threshold, the terraces and seating elements create a new social space at each entry, honoring the volume of the original modernist architecture while introducing a more friendly space in the detailing of marble seat walls and planter edges. New planters and building frontages celebrate the local piedmont’s seasonality, with a naturalistic palette of native rhododendrons, evergreens, and year-round color.
For more information: https://www.library.jhu.edu/library-hours/milton-s-eisenhower-library/eisenhower-renovation/
Client: Johns Hopkins University
Timeline: 2023 - 2027*
*anticipated completion date.
Scope: Full Design Services
Size: 2 acres
Cost: $4m
Collaborators:
Perkins Eastman / Pfeiffer, Prime Consultant, Architect
WRA, Site Civil Engineer
IMEG, MEP/FP Engineer
Silman, Structural Engineer
Convergent, Acoustics & Telecom
NV5 Engineering & Technology, AV Consultant
HLB, Lighting Consultant
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Building Envelope
Thornton Tomasetti, Security Consultant
Jensen Hughes, Life Safety Consultant
Lorax Partnerships, Sustainability
