“A very dignified, functional and inspiring workplace.”
Even wind gusts exceeding 30 miles per hour in freezing temperatures couldn’t stop a crowd from gathering for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Department of Legislative Services (DLS) office building in Annapolis on January 9. Starting 2025 off with a celebration that honors a truly iconic point in time for the state of Maryland — one where government officials and employees, residents and the state itself get the respect they deserve via a stunning, multilayered and multifunctional building — just made sense.
The Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects team is honored to have been able to design the building and attend the event.
“Now they have a very dignified, functional and inspiring workplace,” says Frank Dittenhafer II, President of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects about the new building, which he says contrasts with the old one that didn’t have enough space for the staff and was technologically and environmentally deficient.
A layered design
The Maryland Stadium Authority hired M&D around 2018 to determine whether the existing 1976 DLS building should undergo renovations and additions or be demolished to meet updated space and program demands. After a comprehensive in-depth study, our team determined that demolition and new construction made the most sense.
Ralph Muenstermann, Architectural Designer with M&D, was involved with the project for four years and coordinated the design and construction changes that were implemented to accommodate the DLS’s evolving needs, like adding a Data Center on the fourth floor.
The Data Center is just one element of the building worth highlighting. Others include:
Double-height joint hearing room with a domed ceiling and stained glass lay-lite
Three-story atrium space with a faceted skylight that welcomes natural daylight
Georgian revival exterior building envelope to harmonize with the Architecturally sensitive State House zone
State-of-the-art workplace for more than 400 people employed by the State of Maryland
Six vertically connected building levels total, including two below grade
Plus, the building is still accessible via iconic underground tunnels that go between the Maryland State House.
Concluding a collaborative process
From start to finish, the DLS building project took upwards of six years to complete. The result is a complex, functional and inspiring building that far exceeds the inadequate one that came before it.
“If you look up close and personal at all the details as you go into and through the building, it’s very engaging,” says Dittenhafer. “It’s engaging in the macro scale, the micro scale and everything in between.”
None of this would be possible without the partnership and teamwork that came together to support the completion of the project and all the layers that came with it.
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The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Department of Legislative Services (DLS) office building in Annapolis honored a truly iconic point in time for the state of Maryland.