MBB Architects

MBB Architects is an architectural design firm based in New York City, known for the preservation and renewal of historical and culturally significant buildings such as St. Patrick's Cathedral, Trinity Church Wall Street, and Park Avenue Synagogue. Founding partners Jeffrey Murphy, Mary Burnham, and Harold Buttrick (formerly of Buttrick, White and Burtis) established the firm as Murphy, Burnham & Buttrick in 1998. A fourth partner, Sara Grant, joined the firm in 2004.[1] Now a women-owned firm, MBB had, as of 2020, approximately 30 employees.[1]

Interior glass wall within a stone arch at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City
MBB Architects
Practice information
PartnersMary Burnham, Jeffrey Murphy, Sara Grant
Founded1998 (Murphy, Burnham & Buttrick Architects)
LocationNew York City, United States
Significant works and honors
BuildingsSt. Patrick's Cathedral Renovation
Park Avenue Synagogue Renovation
Trinity Church Wall Street Renovation
St. Hilda's & St. Hugh's School Renovation

Notable projects

In 2015, MBB completed a 10-year, $177 million restoration and renovation of St. Patrick's Cathedral in midtown Manhattan, including the addition of a geothermal heating and cooling system.[2][3] New York Magazine's architecture critic, Justin Davidson, wrote that “The result is so conspicuously glorious that it makes Rockefeller Center look suddenly shabby by comparison.”[4] According to Davidson, “The most impressive tasks aren’t even visible: replacing the entire cooling and heating system and hooking them up to geothermal wells that have been sunk up to 2,200 feet below Manhattan’s asphalt crust.”[4]

In 2021, the firm completed a three-year restoration and renovation of Trinity Church Wall Street, which The New York Times called “a shining example of stewardship.”[5] In addition to restoring the historic interiors and uncovering hidden windows,[6] the project improved the church's accessibility, acoustics and energy performance.[7] MBB also renovated the historic Park Avenue Synagogue in collaboration with Judaica expert Amy Reichert.[8][9]

In 2017 the firm renovated the historic Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn, which U.S. President Joe Biden later called "an incredible place" that is "nurturing a new generation of Black playwrights, performers."[10] Notable education design projects include NYU Abu Dhabi Institute at 19 Washington Square North in New York City; Public School 330[11] in Queens, New York City, built around a glass-enclosed “gymnatorium”;[12] a rooftop athletic center addition to the Grace Church School; an educational green roof at PS 41 Greenwich Village School;[13] and the renovation and expansion of St. Hilda's & St. Hugh's School,[14] where the firm "scrutinized every bit of space from basement to roof to maximize programmatic use."[15]

Interior of the renovated Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn, New York

The firm's 2003 Habitat for Humanity Row Houses in the Bronx were described as "well-designed, dignified and enhancing the urban streetscape" by The New York Times.[16] Another civic housing design, a post-disaster module made of "mold-resistant boating and surfer materials," was selected as a finalist in a 2008 competition organized by New York City's Office of Emergency Management.[17] The firm's design for a net zero energy library in California received an award from the American Institute of Architects, California.[18]

References
  1. Gamolina, Julia (2020-09-22). "Design That Matters: MBB's Mary Burnham on Embracing Opportunities and Taking the Long View". Madame Architect. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  2. Otterman, Sharon (2018-03-14). "The New, Green Pride of St. Patrick's Cathedral Is Underground". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  3. Budds, Diana (2015-09-22). "How To Give An Iconic 136-Year-Old Cathedral A $177 Million Overhaul". Fast Company.
  4. Davidson, Justin (2015-09-11). "What We Can Learn From the Restoration of St. Patrick's Cathedral". Intelligencer (New York Magazine). Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  5. Margolies, Jane (2019-02-08). "The Church With the $6 Billion Portfolio". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  6. Melchiorre, James; Winterbottom, Colin (2021-07-08). "Rejuvenation: The Hidden Windows of Trinity Church". Trinity Church Wall Street. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  7. Kaufman, Simon (2022-02-17). "Trinity Church Wall Street". Partners for Sacred Places. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  8. Silow-Carroll, Andrew (2019-12-10). "Park Ave. Synagogue Celebrates A $96 Million Expansion". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  9. "Arcat Podcast Episode: 39: Park Avenue Synagogue | MBB Architects". ARCAT. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  10. Culgan, Rossilynne Skena. "Brooklyn's Billie Holiday Theatre just won the nation's most prestigious arts award". Time Out New York. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  11. Kim, Sheila (2018-02-08). "The Glaring Issue of Daylighting in Education Settings". Architectural Record. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  12. "Public School 330Q". Rethinking The Future Awards. 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  13. "Greenwich Village School Green Roof—PS41 | MBB Architects". Archinect. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  14. "St. Hilda's and St. Hugh's School". Architect Magazine. 2015-12-02.
  15. Delgado, Lisa (Winter 2008). ""No Place to Go but Up or Down"" (PDF). Oculus: Publication of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter. 70 (4): 39 – via US Modernist.
  16. McDowell, Edwin (2003-06-15). "Habitat for Humanity in the Bronx; Sweat Equity Helps to Create 13 Houses". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  17. Weiss, Lois (2012-11-07). "Disaster housing holdup". New York Post. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  18. Hickman, Matt (2020-06-04). "AIA California announces winners of ninth annual net-zero design competition". The Architect’s Newspaper. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
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