Renovations designed by M&D underway at old B&O Warehouse alongside Camden Yards (2024)

Springing into action like the grounds crew following a game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, construction workers began renovations at the former B&O Railroad warehouse just beyond the park’s right-field fence after the last pitch in September.

The rail company built the 1,016-foot-long, eight-story structure in 1898 to handle freight at its Camden yard. Since 1992, when the Orioles’ new ballpark opened, the warehouse has marked the eastern perimeter of the complex.

But while fans view the warehouse as a target for lefty-swinging power hitters, it mostly serves a community that has nothing to do with baseball. Though it houses offices for the Orioles and the Maryland Stadium Authority, as well as fan shops and restaurants, it is primarily the year-round home to businesses and medical offices.

The extensive renovations designed by Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, which should be finished in March, are aimed at making the building more comfortable for tenants and more attractive to city residents and visitors.

“The daily experience for tenants will be better, more efficient,” says Architect Peter Schwab of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, who designed the interior and exterior renovations. Schwab serves as project manager for the work.

A new system to centrally control interior lighting is being installed, and new lighting will brighten the building’s three lobbies. All 950 windows have been tested for thermal efficiency, and they qualified for repairs rather than replacement, saving money for the Stadium Authority, which owns the complex.

To improve security, new electrical boxes in the lobbies’ floors will power magnetometers that visitors will pass through.

A diverse clientele

The three lobbies serve different user groups. One is for the warehouse tenants, one for Orioles season ticketholders, and one for the team and Stadium Authority offices. In redesigning the tenants’ lobby, the Architects drew on Baltimore’s maritime connection.

“It has a natural, coastal theme,” Schwab explains, “with translucent wall panels with real seaweed and coastal grasses in them.”

An arched ceiling canopy of perforated stainless-steel panels was removed and cleaned and is being reinstalled with suspended lighting.

The renovation construction work is being performed at night, and the lobby is clean and tidy by morning.

“The tenants are walking through a construction site each day, but they might not realize it,” Schwab notes.

The other two lobbies are taking on baseball themes. The ticketholder lobby will sport an illuminated Orioles logo, a depiction of the scoreboard clock, and custom team images. Graphical text on the walls will highlight icons associated with the ballpark, such as Boog’s Barbecue, Eutaw Street, and the year 1954, when the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles.

Wooden acoustic ceiling panels, called “clouds,” will seem to float above.

Orioles orange will dominate the team and Stadium Authority lobby, with a graphic marking Cal Ripken Jr.’s record-setting appearance in 2,131 consecutive games in 1995. The original wood beams of the structure, their steel connecting plates, and mechanical ducts will be exposed above suspended translucent resin ceiling panels.

New terrazzo floors are also going in the latter two lobbies.

The redesign of the three lobbies was a true collaborative effort within Murphy & Dittenhafer – with Architectural Designer Patrick Ness, Assoc. AIA; Interior Designer Lisa Clemens; Project Manager Peter Schwab, AIA: and Principal Frank Dittenhafer, FAIA LEED AP – all contributing their expertise.

An outward transformation

The building’s exterior is getting a face-lift notes Schwab. An old vinyl sign facing away from the stadium that read “Welcome to Oriole Park at Camden Yards” is gone from atop the warehouse, revealing the same faded message that had been painted on the brick façade. The brick has been repointed and the text repainted.

Improved lighting will make the sign stand out at night.

On the south end of the warehouse, a new lighted sign will deliver the same message to those entering the city by highway or train.

A continuous metal canopy is being installed above the first floor, replacing three shorter awnings over the lobby entrances. New metal team signs and logos go under the canopy.

Lighting shining up from the canopy will illuminate the hulking mass of the east façade at night, to a height of about 50 feet. The new lights also can bathe the building in Orioles orange, Baltimore Ravens purple, or red and green for the Christmas holidays.

Preparation work is underway for the project’s final element, a new heating, cooling, and ventilation system, to be installed in July.

While the work mostly benefits warehouse tenants, the two redesigned baseball lobbies should be a treat for Orioles fans.

“For fans, it’s all about the lobbies,” Schwab points out. “They are going to say, ‘Wow, what has happened here?’ They usually walk through on the way to the game and just make an effort to get in one door and out the other. Now, they probably will stop and look around before going through.”