"We knew Bluestone would be comparable to limestone in its texture," said Joseph Tattoni, principal architect. "In the schematic stages, the building was rendered and conceived as limestone with brick, but during the design-development stage, we decided to go with Bluestone instead of the limestone, because its texture is very similar to the other surrounding buildings made of limestone." In addition to limestone, the architects considered granite and slate before choosing Bluestone.

"The overall design goal was to incorporate the language of this historic campus in a modern twenty-first century health sciences library; in trying to achieve that goal, we explored the forms and materiality of the campus, which has a very rich tradition of brick and limestone," said Tattoni.