A museum celebrating the late legendary Yankees catcher Yogi Berra has earned top recognition for its design and the glass-box atrium that greets passers-by on the Montclair State University campus.

Architectural Digest named the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center the best-designed museum in New Jersey, ranking it along with other nationally recognized buildings like the Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

The Yogi Berra museum underwent a nine-month $3.5 million renovation in 2009 designed by Ikon 5 Architects.

"We're very proud of that and feel wonderful about it," Joe Tattoni, the design principal on the project, said. "It's a small museum that not too many people know about but its mission is really important and it's very unique to the state."

The renovation added a 1,000 square-foot flexible exhibit area encased in glass walls. Tattoni said Berra used to sit in the gallery space -- in a way becoming part of the exhibit.

The Yogi Berra Museum first opened in 1998 and offers educational programming to promote Berra's values of sportsmanship, respect and social justice. Located in Little Falls on the Montclair University campus, the museum thanked the publication for the nod on its website.

The museum was closed on Monday.

In its rankings, released last month, Architectural Digest wrote that it was recognizing the most "beautifully designed museum in each U.S. state"

"Since one of the roles of any structure is to welcome its visitors, it makes sense that these public venues are stunning designs meant to entice patrons into its doors," the publication wrote.

Tattoni said he wanted the space to match Berra's character and personality.

"This place had to be pretty open and inviting because that's who he is," he said. "(Berra) would talk to you like he's known you forever, and was very unguarded and very casual."

Berra, who lived in Montclair with his family, died in 2015. After serving in the Navy, Berra started his sports career in the minor league Newark Bears (formerly a Yankees affiliate). He debuted with the Yankees in 1946 and was named MVP three times, as well as inducted to the Hall of Fame.

"His heart was really in New Jersey," Tattoni said of Berra. "He was a Jersey boy and I think Architectural Digest recognizing this is kind of a nice way of elevating the state of New Jersey."

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.