Historic American Buildings Survey,
Engineering Record, Landscapes Survey
Related
Burroughs Wellcome Headquarters, 3030 East Cornwallis Road, Durham, Durham County, NC
- Title: Burroughs Wellcome Headquarters, 3030 East Cornwallis Road, Durham, Durham County, NC
- Other Title: Elion Hitchings Building
- Creator(s): Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
- Related Names:
Rudolph, Paul
Burroughs Wellcome
United Therapeutics
Daniel Construction Co.
Lockwood Greene Engineers, Inc.
Peden Steel Company
Florida Steel Company
Concrete Service Company
Tomlinson Engineering Company
Kellogg Mann
Southern Elevator
Freezer Box Division, Annapolis Yacht Yard
Partitions, Inc.
Cook and Boardman
Inland-Ryerson
David Electrical Constructors
Bahnson Service Company
Covil Insulation Company
Zion & Breen Associates, Inc.
Baselice, Vyta , historian
Davidson, Lisa Pfueller , project manager
McPartland, Mary , transmitter - Date Created/Published: Documentation compiled after 1933
- Medium: Data Page(s): 49
- Reproduction Number: ---
- Rights Advisory:
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. (http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html)
- Call Number: HABS NC-418
- Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
- Notes:
- Significance: The Burroughs Wellcome Corporation Headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina was designed by Paul Rudolph starting in 1969 and completed by the Daniels Construction Company in 1972. Planned as an "M.I.T. of North Carolina" this area between Raleigh and Durham was developed starting in the 1950s as a center for high-tech corporate research to attract and keep a highly educated, white-collar population in a Jim Crow state. Research Trianglets ability to lure the pharmaceuticals giant Burroughs Wellcome, a company with roots in nineteenth century England, away from their suburban New York headquarters solidified the area's status as a significant economic center no longer merely on the regional, but now also on the national scale. The design and construction of the new Wellcome Headquarters building was a significant affair and was meant to make a statement regarding the company's new modern image and illustrate the advanced state of laboratory research and pharmaceutical work in the Research Triangle. Paul Rudolph worked with the corporation to design facilities that would accommodate a wide range of functions, including administrative rooms, animal quarters for testing, chemical laboratories with appropriate ventilation equipment, training facilities and an extensive library, among other spaces. The relationship that the architect developed with the Burroughs Wellcome Corporation leadership was unusually long-standing and the business commissioned Rudolph's office to design the headquarters' expansion in the 1980s. The building is notable for its futuristic design, frequently described as Brutalist, marked by an exposed concrete and aggregate exterior and slanted steel columns that intersect in V-shapes and give the structure its distinctive appearance. While spatially liberating and architecturally provocative, the distinctive structural system also uncomfortably restricted workers' movements and necessitated custom-designed furniture to fit the unusual interior volumes and structural protrusions. The design is informed by Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater (1935) and echoes aspects of Rudolph's late 1960s design for the Lower Manhattan Expressway (1967-1972). The structural system employed in the building also showcases the architect's interest in industrial construction methods and the use of prefabricated panels for exterior and interior partitions. Rudolph likewise experimented with the integration of novel materials and exterior treatments, including new welding processes, use of Plexiglas and Boncoat exterior coating, which at times caused considerable maintenance challenges. In terms of interior design, the building offers expansive multi-story gathering spaces with spot lighting exposing the irregular structural system. Bright carpets that blended red, orange, and pink colors were installed in communal areas to add to the drama of the headquarters. Other spaces that received extensive attention include research laboratories with state of the art equipment and custom-fitted cabinetry, and animal quarters, which quarantined and housed mice, dogs, cats, and rabbits. The grounds that surround the headquarters, both the plantings as well as the parking lots, were likewise studied extensively and arranged thoughtfully to display the building in the most flattering circumstance. Before the construction workers even broke ground, some hailed the structure to be a milestone in the country’s business architecture.
- Survey number: HABS NC-418
- Building/structure dates: 1969-1972 Initial Construction
- Building/structure dates: 1987-1988 Subsequent Work
- Building/structure dates: 2012 Subsequent Work
- Building/structure dates: 2021 Demolished
- Subjects:
- Place:
- Latitude/Longitude: 35.911971, -78.869282
- Collections:
- Part of: Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
- Bookmark This Record:
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/nc0622/
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- Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
- Reproduction Number: ---
- Call Number: HABS NC-418
- Medium: Data Page(s): 49
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- Call Number: HABS NC-418
- Medium: Data Page(s): 49
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