St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Commissioned to conserve and seamlessly upgrade a cherished landmark, MBB Architects led a 10-year, $175-million renewal effort culminating in an award-winning restoration and sustainable infrastructure improvements.
The renovation of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, one of New York’s most visited destinations, required strategic planning and phased construction across a campus spanning an entire city block. MBB’s comprehensive project scope included preservation of exterior and interior surfaces-marble, slate, metalwork, ornamental plasterwork, decorative woodwork, cast stone, and stained glass-as well as the installation of new glass doors at the Fifth Avenue entrance.
Campus infrastructure was upgraded with a seamless insertion of sustainable systems, including a state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling system. Upgrades to the campus landscape accommodated new hidden infrastructure while creating new garden and terrace designs.
The entire project was conducted while the Cathedral remained open for daily masses, welcoming the five million visitors who pass through its doors annually.
"The result is so conspicuously glorious that it makes Rockefeller Center look suddenly shabby by comparison. When Pope Francis steps into the high, cream-colored nave… he will see a building overhauled by hand and eye, a monument to fine-grained labor."
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Recognition
- 2019 American Institute of Architects NationalCOTE Award for Sustainable Design
- 2018 Chicago Athenaeum MuseumAmerican Architecture Award
- 2016 American Institute of Architects NationalHonor Award
- 2016 New York Landmarks Conservancy Lucy G. Moses Award
- 2016 American Institute of Architects NYCMerit Award
- 2016 Municipal Arts Society of New York MASterworks award for Best Restoration
- 2016 ArchitizerA+ Awards Special Mention
- 2016 Faith & Form/IFRAAReligious Art & Architecture Award
- 2014 Copper Development AssociationNorth American Copper in Architecture Award
Select Publications & Interviews
- New York Magazine | 09/15/2015What We Can Learn From the Restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral
- The New York Times | 03/14/2018The New, Green Pride of St. Patrick's Cathedral is Underground
- Retrofit Magazine | July/ August 2019Landmark Cathedral Goes Green
- Architectural Digest | April 23, 2019How to Tackle Safety Risks Rife at Historic Sites Around the World?
- Fox 5 New York | March 18, 2019“St. Patrick’s Cathedral dig deep for modernizing” TV clip
- National Trust for Historic Preservation | 27 November 2018Minimalist Glass Insertions to Improve and Preserve St. Patrick’s Cathedral, by Jeffrey Murphy
- Glass Magazine | September 2018, Vol. 68 Num. 8Innovations in Glass: 2018 Award Winners
Photos © Elizabeth Felicella © Chris LaPutt © Raymond Pepi © Whitney Cox © John Baer