Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s groundbreaking ceremony took place in East Baltimore on June 5th. The mood of the ceremony for the new South Building was reflective of the Bloomberg School’s leadership, faculty, students, and supporters’ excitement and focus on the real work that lies ahead to address the numerous challenges this industry faces. Offering a space to reflect on the evolving landscape of public health, the ceremony also reminded those in attendance that the new South Building will help them continue their work to protect and save millions of lives each and every day.
Expected to be completed in late 2026, the new South Building will be located at the corner of McElderry and Washington streets, adjacent to the Bloomberg School’s existing buildings on North Wolfe Street and North Broadway in the heart of the university’s East Baltimore campus. With approximately 250,000 gross square feet across seven floors, the building has been designed to encompass dynamic workspaces, state-of-the-art classrooms, and a host of spaces for study, collaboration, and events, which include gatherings with community groups.
Enhancing Public Health Education and Collaboration
The building will help support the school’s mission to continue to inspire and educate future generations of public health leaders. Bloomberg School Dean Ellen J. MacKenzie told the crowd gathered in Sommer Hall for the event, “Today’s public health challenges are so complex… Whether we are working on the problems of opioid overdose, gun violence, the growing mental health crisis, or threats to our environment, we need innovative thinking, long-range strategies—and, very importantly, strong partnerships. That means we need a space designed around the values of community and collaboration because it’s only through community and collaboration that we can meet the challenges ahead.”
As one of the largest public health institutions in the world, the Bloomberg School of Public Health includes ten academic departments and more than 1,500 faculty members, as well as 80-plus research centers and over 3,200 students from over 90 different nations. Yet, despite its size, the school currently sprawls across a labyrinth-like collection of classrooms, laboratories, hallways, and stairwells that can leave the faculty, staff, and students feeling disconnected from one another.
The new South Building will address issues with community and collaboration, with departments becoming “neighborhoods” with informal gathering spaces that flow easily from one to another. MacKenzie stated that the building will encourage “interdisciplinary partnerships [and] serendipitous conversations that lead to new ideas.”
Community Engagement and Architectural Excellence
Moving beyond neighborhoods, the first floor of the building will welcome community members and become the home base for SOURCE, the community engagement and service-learning center for the schools of Public Health, Nursing, and Medicine, which collaborate with more than 100 community-based organizations in the Baltimore area.
JHU President Ron Daniels also expressed excitement, stating during the groundbreaking ceremony, “Yes, we’re celebrating the transformative potential of the many facets of the building itself… But we’re also celebrating something greater than the sum of these individual elements, and that is the power of the proximity of people and ideas that this building will unleash as all members of the Bloomberg School come together under one single roof.”
Hopkins Architects, based in London, and Hord Coplan Macht Inc., based in Baltimore, are designing the South Building. They have drawn up a plan for a building ready to meet the demands of public health education, research, and practice. The design will support cutting-edge research and foster a spirit of innovation and collaboration that is essential for addressing the public health challenges of the future. The building’s state-of-the-art facilities and thoughtful design will play a critical role in advancing the school’s mission and ensuring that Johns Hopkins remains at the forefront of public health education and research.
