The Morgan Library & Museum was the recipient of a 2006 Murray Hill Architectural Award from the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association. Beyer Blinder Belle served as Executive Architect on the project, in concert with the world-renowned Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the Design Architect. The project transformed a private research library into a more user-friendly facility, knitting together three disparate landmark buildings (the original turn-of-the-century library building designed by McKim, Mead & White; the 1928 library annex; and the Morgan House, an 1840s brownstone mansion) and a modern addition into one cohesive and inviting whole. One of the project's greatest challenges was maintaining the scale of the existing buildings while doubling total square footage. This was done by building more than 50 feet into bedrock, so that over 70 percent of the addition is underground, including a state-of-the-art auditorium accommodating up to 300 people. Above ground, the centerpiece is a steel-and-glass cube, called a "piazza," which now serves as the central organizing structure of the new Morgan. A new, more prominent entrance on Madison Avenue leads visitors into the piazza.

PROJECT TEAM
Partner-in-Charge: Richard W. Southwick, AIA, Partner
Project Architect: Michael Wetstone, AIA, Associate Partner
Project Architect: Frank Prial, Jr., AIA, Associate
Project Architect: Robert Tse
Construction Administration: Meghan Lake