Founded 1955 | Founder Evans Woollen III | |
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Headquarters Indianapolis, Indiana,
United States Services Architecture, Interior Design, Planning Website Woollen, Molzan and Partners | ||
Woollen, Molzan and Partners (WMP) is a US-based second-generation architecture, interior design, and planning firm. The company was founded in 1955 by Evans Woollen. Published in numerous books, periodicals, and online resources, WMP's long history has resulted in a diverse portfolio of experience in libraries, worship facilities, museums, performing arts centers, housing, and correctional facilities.
The firm’s early work centered on bank facilities, private residences, and churches. In 1960, Butler University of Indianapolis chose Evans Woollen to design Clowes Memorial Hall, a 2,200 seat concert hall for the University and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. It was the firm’s first major work and led to the design of a series of performing arts facilities.
Senior partners Lynn Molzan and Laurence O’Connor joined the firm in 1965. The firm name became Evans Woollen and Associates. The firm’s bank facility work continued in the 60s; however, it was joined by two significant commissions: the Minton-Capehart Federal Building in the "Brutalist" style and with architectural art by Milton Glaser — on Indiana World War Memorial Plaza in Indianapolis. and the Indiana University Musical Arts Center (Jacobs School of Music) in Bloomington. The firm also started work on its first academic library, for Marian College (Indiana)—a specialized design focus of the firm still today. Retirement housing and communities became a major area of work in the 1970s. A project in Cincinnati, at the Pilot Center in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood became a milestone in its professional development. It was here that Evans Woollen and Larry O’Connor first initiated the firm’s “live-in” approach to design process and client participation, which continues today. Particularly satisfying to the firm was its work in New Harmony, Indiana where it produced designs for an inn and the renovation of a community auditorium. In 1973, the firm incorporated and changed its name to Woollen Associates, Inc.
In 1979, and in the early years of the next decade, the firm began its design work at St. Meinrad Archabbey, a Benedictine monastery in Southern Indiana—one of only two Archabbeys in the United States. Its architectural designs included a new monastery and academic library and the historic renovation of the centerpiece Archabbey Church. In the 1980s, churches, libraries, museums, historic renovations, and performing arts facilities were hallmarks of the firm’s work. The award-winning Cushwa-Leighton Library at Saint Mary's College (Indiana) became the star of the firm’s academic library portfolio. Partner and Controller William Brady joined the firm in 1980. In 1982 the firm became Woollen, Molzan and Partners. Partner Kevin Huse joined the firm in 1985.
The 1990s began with the completion of the historic renovation of Hall Auditorium on the campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio; and the firm began its work on the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, the first all-new prison facility in Indiana in over 100 years. This project started the firm’s work in the correctional market.
Although a diverse portfolio since its establishment in 1955, the major work of Woollen, Molzan and Partners was focused on libraries and worship facilities. In April 2011, the firm closed its doors.
Selected Projects
ACES Library, Information and Alumni Center, UIUC College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, Urbana, Illinois
Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln, St. Meinrad Archabbey St. Meinrad, Indiana
Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Central Library, Indianapolis, Indiana
Church of Our Lady of Loretto, Saint Mary's College (Indiana), Notre Dame, Indiana
Clowes Memorial Hall, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana
Cushwa-Leighton Library, Saint Mary's College (Indiana), Notre Dame, Indiana
Grainger Engineering Library Information Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana
Frank Moody Music Building, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Musical Arts Center, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
Charles V. Park Library and Information Services Center, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
David L. Rice Library, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, Indiana
St. Andrew Abbey Church, Cleveland, Ohio
St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church, Westfield, Indiana
St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Carmel, Indiana
St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Indianapolis, Indiana
Minton-Capehart Federal Building, Indianapolis, Indiana
Morris Library, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
University Library, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa
Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, Carlisle, Indiana
White River Gardens, Indianapolis, Indiana