Darwin D. Martin House Visitor Center
Buffalo, NY, USA
2009

The Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion is a 7,700 sq ft visitor center that provides orientation, event spaces, and a permanent gallery for the Darwin D. Martin House, Frank Lloyd Wright’s residential complex in Buffalo, New York, built in 1906. 

Our design fosters a lively dialogue between the historic Martin House and the Pavilion through a strategy of contrast rather than imitation. The inverted roof of the Pavilion simultaneously references the form of Wright’s hip roof while marking its distinct public program.  The Pavilion’s transparent façade and open plan is filled with natural daylight, in contrast to the Martin House’s introverted interior, deep recesses and shadows.   The slender stainless steel columns along the perimeter of the Pavilion are directly projected from the historic brick piers of the Martin House pergola, further contextualizing its site.  The Pavilion’s architectural concrete wall references the profile of the iconic raked brick at the Martin House.

The visitor center reinterprets Wright’s concept of “organic architecture,” reflecting innovation and integration of structure, infrastructure, and programmatic relationships. The Pavilion utilizes geothermal heating and displacement ventilation to provide an energy efficient and innovative environmental design. The CNC-milled solid stainless steel columns provide efficiency in structural materiality while incorporating new technologies. The exterior envelope is a structurally glazed system with triple insulated units that has optimum transparency with energy efficiency.

Credits:

Design Team: Toshiko Mori, Sonya Lee, Alexandra Barker
Contractor: LPCiminelli
Structural: William Baker of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill Chicago
Civil: Watts Architecture and Engineering
MEP & Fire Protection: Landmark Facilities Group
Environmental Consultant: Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH
Lighting: Arup Lighting
Landscape: Quennell Rothschild and Partners
Façade Consultant: Front Inc.
Film, Exhibition, & Graphic Design: 2x4 Inc.

Photographs © Iwan Baan, Paul Warchol