Mullen Library

Studio: Q4, 2022

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The eastern Michigan Ave. entrance to the Catholic University of America is currently undergoing a major redesign which will transform it into one of the primary gateways to campus. One of the first buildings visitors will see when going through this entrance is Mullen Library - specifically the rear parking lot of Mullen Library. The brief was to redesign Mullen Library to accommodate a rear facade worthy of this new gateway to campus.

 

The new facade was inspired by the New York Public Library (Carrère and Hastings), concealing within it a domed entry hall inspired by Napoleon's Tomb at Les Invalides. The modifications to the library reach into the heart of the building, where the new addition flows into two new conditioned courtyards inspired by the National Gallery of Art (John Russel Pope) - which in their existing state were inaccessible light wells.