The firm's wide range of modern building designs included banking facilities, libraries, office buildings, and churches, as well as academic buildings, performing-arts facilities, and correctional facilities. It was also involved in numerous historic preservation and urban-redevelopment projects.
1960s residential designs Initially, Woollen specialized in designs for private homes, but the firm's work soon expanded to include commercial and urban-design projects. For the Leibman residence (ca. 1962–64), another of Woollen's early residential commissions that was featured in
House Beautiful and
House and Garden magazines, he created a modern interpretation of an old peasant farmhouse in southern
Italy. The cluster house had two circular structures with conical roofs.
1960s commercial projects Woollen's notable early commercial projects that were built in Indianapolis included Fesler Hall (1962), an addition to the
John Herron Art Institute, and
Clowes Memorial Hall (1963), which he co-designed
John M. Johansen. Clowes Hall was built on the campus of
Butler University. These two buildings are notable for their exposed concrete slabs, which are typical of the
Brutalism architecture style. The $3.5 million Clowes Hall project, which included a 2,200-seat
concert hall for the university and the
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, was the firm's first major work. Since its opening in 1963, the architectural community has praised its bold design, and its success led to other major commissions, including the design of other performing-arts facilities. Another of the firm's early projects was the modern design for the
Marian University library (1966) in Indianapolis. It was the firm's first
academic library, which also became a specialty of the firm. In addition to these works, the firm designed the twenty-floor John J. Barton Tower (1967) in Indianapolis. The estimated $3.5 million project was the first high-rise apartment building in the city that provided low-cost housing for senior citizens. The firm also designed several banking facilities for the American Fletcher National Bank (a predecessor to the present-day
Chase Bank in Indianapolis) and became known for designing religious buildings. One of its notable early churches was Saint Thomas Aquinas Church (1968) in Indianapolis. It received an Indiana Society of Architects award for its bold, geometric design.
1970s commissions The firm's major commissions in the 1970s included the
Indiana University's
Musical Arts Center (1972) in
Bloomington and the
Minton-Capehart Federal Building (1976) in Indianapolis. However, architects consider the massive building as one of the city's few "cutting-edge designs from the 1970s." In addition to these projects, the firm designed the 45-room New Harmony Inn (1975) at historic
New Harmony, Indiana. and the renovation of a community auditorium.
Urban-redevelopment projects Community redevelopment became a major area of focus for the firm in the 1970s. The firm's design for the $2.5 million Pilot Center (1972–84) in the
Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of
Cincinnati,
Ohio, was a milestone in its professional development. It was here that Woollen and O'Connor first initiated the firm's "live-in" approach to its design process that encouraged client and community stakeholder participation.The
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provided funding to build the Pilot Center, which was a grouping of four, mixed-use buildings (a recreational center, a senior citizens center, a Montessori school and daycare center, and a meeting and event space) within a two-block area. The firm was also involved in several major renovations that repurposed older buildings in Indianapolis into inner-city housing. Its adaptive reuse projects turned the former Saint Agnes Academy, a former headquarters of the Carpenter's Union, and the former Saint Vincent's Hospital on North Illinois Street into apartment buildings and saved the aging structures from demolition. The hospital renovation, whose construction cost was $3.5 million, was the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's largest rehabilitation project in Indiana. Renamed the Weyerbacher Terrace, the project's 296 units opened for rental in 1975. (The hospital building was later remodeled and became part of the present-day Ivy Tech Community College campus.)
1980s projects Churches, libraries, museums, historic renovations, and performing-arts facilities continued to be hallmarks of the firm's work in the 1980s, which included several major projects. In 1979 the firm began design work at
St. Meinrad Archabbey, a
Benedictine monastery in
Spencer County, Indiana. The
archabbey is one of only two s in the United States. The firm's architectural designs included a new monastery and academic library, in addition to renovation of the historic archabbey church. Saint Andrew's Abbey Church (1985–86) in
Cleveland,
Ohio, another of the firm's major works in the 1980s, has an asymmetrical exterior and striking modern sanctuary of exposed steel, concrete walls, and an upward-sloping ceiling. The firm also designed churches in Indianapolis, including Saint Phillip's Church (1986) and a modern addition (1983–89) to
Christ Church Cathedral, an Indianapolis landmark on Monument Circle. The
Grainger Engineering Library (1984) at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign was also a notable project for the firm. University officials believed that its design would serve as a "model for future academic libraries." The firm also designed the west atrium entrance (1989) to
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis as part of a multi-phase update to make it less intimidating for children, but still capable of handling more than a million visitors annually. In addition to a new entrance, the four-story addition included gallery space, a gift shop, a restaurant, a box office, and an information desk. Another of the firm's notable performing-arts buildings was the Moody Music Center (1983–90) on the
University of Alabama campus in
Tuscaloosa. This project started the firm's work in the correctional market. Other major work in the 1990s included churches such as Holy Cross Lutheran Church (1990) and Saint Monica's Church (1993) in Indianapolis and a contemporary design for the
White River Gardens Conservatory (1999) at the
Indianapolis Zoo.
2000–2011 projects The Indianapolis Central Library addition and atrium project (2007) was Woollen Molzan's largest commission and the final one before Evans Woollen III retired from the firm. The project included restoration of the
Indianapolis Public Library's historic Central Library, which was designed by
Paul Philippe Cret and built in 1917, and a new, six-story curved-glass and steel structure that connected to the Cret building through an expansive atrium. The firm was commissioned in 2001 to design the new building, but work was temporarily halted in 2004 due to construction problems and subsequent lawsuits. The Woollen Molzan firm was eventually released from the project, which cost an estimated $150 million; however, the library addition was completed in 2007 using its design. Woollen Molzan's lawsuit with the library was settled in 2006. The firm paid the library $580,000, but denied accusations that the building had design flaws, and the library paid the Woollen Molzan firm $130,000 in fees. The library's structural consultants "were exonerated in court" in 2009; "it is generally accepted that the innocence extended to Woollen, Molzan too." In 2010 the firm completed design work on its final project, a $3.4 million renovation of the historic
Indianapolis City Market. ==Legacy==