University of Notre Dame,
The Coleman-Morse Center (2000)
South Bend, Indiana

When the University of Notre Dame was making plans for a new building to house its academic services for student athletes, they wanted a contemporary version of the original campus Gothic style. In a call for preliminary pricing bids, the architect sent out drawings of the doors that had been designed for this project. The large Gothic door intended for the building’s main entrance included a transom with a quatrefoil, a rounded window with four equal lobes. But something about the quatrefoil design didn’t seem quite right.

Before the late 19th century, most knowledge about design and construction was passed on by apprenticing with a guild or otherwise learning the building traditions. As a result, very little documentation exists on how the work was actually done. Among our collection of early books on construction techniques, however, a 1902 text contains a chapter on the geometry of laying out Gothic tracery. Even before the project of building the Notre Dame entryway was assigned, we were able to share this chapter with the architect and help refine the quatrefoil design according to authentic Gothic style. Subsequently, Historic Doors was also selected to handle construction. The completed doorway is a striking entrance and a testament to Notre Dame ’s appreciation for history.