“PhDs among the Possums”: Paul Rudolph's Burroughs Wellcome Headquarters and the Transformation of Laboratory Architecture

Abstract

In 1971, the British pharmaceuticals corporation Burroughs Wellcome held an elaborate celebration on both sides of the Atlantic to mark the upcoming opening of its new headquarters in Research Triangle Park near Durham,North Carolina (the building opened officially in April 1972).Designed by architect Paul Rudolph, the new headquarters aimed to invoke southern cultural and architectural traditions while also conveying the energy and excitement ofmodern science. As Vyta Pivo demonstrates in “PhDs Among the Possums”: Paul Rudolph’s Burroughs Wellcome Headquarters and the Transformation of Laboratory Architecture, while Rudolph’s use of the structural A-frame as an organizing matrix created spaces that inspired awe and mystery, his design also generated practical challenges in terms of both use and maintenance. Although Rudolph’s adoption of industrial construction techniques and unproven experimental materials was intended to expedite the building process and lower costs, it nearly jeopardized the entire project. By reconstructing the historical context of the BurroughsWellcome Headquarters, Pivo advances our understanding of the fundamental goals and challenges involved in the development of new suburban corporate headquarters and laboratory building typologies.