Cultural

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."

Justin Davidson New York Magazine