Burroughs-Wellcome Under Threat



photos: Joseph Molitor, 1972



Photo: Joseph Molitor


In 1969 pharmaceuticals giant Burroughs-Wellcome commissioned Paul Rudolph to design its headquarters in Research Triangle Park, NC, an area between Raleigh and Durham dominated by high-tech corporate research facilities The building was expanded by Rudolph in the 1980s and a covenant prevented unauthorized changes during his lifetime. After a series of mergers, Burroughs became GlaxoSmithKline, which sold the 700,000 square foot facility in June of last year. The new owners, United Therapeutics, describe themselves as admirers of Paul Rudolph and plan to retain what they consider ‘historically important’ parts of the complex and demolish others, presumably the 1980s expansion.



Rendering of proposed expansion, via the Herald-Sun

As Foundation Co-Director Sean Khorsandi put it:

“There are other examples of buildings that have been saved and renovated, and they're great icons,” he said. “There is renewed appreciation for this work. It's a matter of tastes are changing, but you need to get the right attention to the right people.”

Rudolph’s 1964 Endo Laboratories in Garden City, NY suffered a similar fate. It, too, has changed ownership and use, the company being bought by DuPont in 1969 which continued to operate there until 2004. The current owner performed a hasty and insensitive renovation that included painting over board-form concrete surfaces and replacing the Robert Zion roof garden with Astroturf. The bulk of it is currently leased to Lifetime Brands, which uses the main laboratory space as a showroom for its household products.


Endo Laboratories in 2012, photo: Paul Rudolph Foundation

The Fifties and Sixties saw the beginning and the end of IBM’s period of engaging talented architects to design its facilities (a list that includes Rudolph), as well as Eero Saarinen's work for Bell Laboratories and countless lesser-known works. It raises important questions about the nature of exurban architecture where, outside the city and out of sight, reuse is rarely a consideration. In an age when it is often cheaper to build new than renovate, it is worth considering a time when corporations saw the benefit of investing in their workspaces.

Read the Herald-Sun article here.


Section-perspective of the original scheme by Paul Rudolph, courtesy the Paul Rudolph Archive at Library of Congress