Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center

The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center will be a state-of-the-art Johns Hopkins facility for research, education, and public engagement that allows every academic division within the institution to be present in the nation’s capital. The building will enable the university to consolidate its Washington, D.C. graduate school operations, and its proximity to Capitol Hill will increase the university’s ability to bring its research and expertise to national and global conversations and debates. Through the Bloomberg Center, Johns Hopkins will optimize learning opportunities, foster creativity and the exchange of ideas, and host convenings, conferences, and community events.

The university’s D.C.-based graduate programs will be consolidated at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, anchored by the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). D.C.-based academic programs from the Carey Business School and the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences will also move into the Bloomberg Center. Ultimately, every division within the university will make use of the building. Consolidating programs into one facility will create new opportunities for interaction and collaboration among faculty, staff, and students. It will allow a greater flow of ideas and people between Baltimore and Washington.

Renovation of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center includes structural and architectural alterations, such as introducing more natural sunlight in the building’s façade, reconfiguring floorplates to increase square footage, and modifying building systems to support the university’s academic efforts, sustainability goals, and accessibility. The building’s design will emphasize flexibility, allowing for responsiveness to the needs of multiple programs and emerging pedagogies.

The design effort is being led by Ennead Architects (exterior architect) and Rockwell Group (interior architect). The DC office of SmithGroup will serve as the Architect of Record.

Renovations began in 2020 and will take approximately two and a half years. The building will undergo significant changes and is anticipated to open in the second half of 2023.

The purchase of the building will be financed by a combination of proceeds from the eventual sale of the university’s Massachusetts Avenue properties, institutional funds, and philanthropic support.

While the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center was purchased by Johns Hopkins, the Freedom Forum retained ownership of all of its Newseum artifacts, including the First Amendment tablet on the exterior of the building. The Freedom Forum announced that the tablet will be gifted to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, where it will be reconfigured and emplaced along a 100-foot-wide wall on the National Constitution Center’s Grand Hall Overlook, the second-floor atrium overlooking historic Independence Mall. As a premier academic and research institution committed to advancing knowledge and the principles of free expression, Johns Hopkins will continue to use the Bloomberg Center as a home for education, discovery, free and open debate, and the preservation and advancement of democratic ideals.