Welcome to the Archives of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. The purpose of this online database is to function as a tool for scholars, students, architects, preservationists, journalists and other interested parties. The archive consists of photographs, slides, articles and publications from Rudolph’s lifetime; physical drawings and models; personal photos and memorabilia; and contemporary photographs and articles.

Unless otherwise noted, all images and drawings are copyright © The Estate of Paul Rudolph and The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. Please speak with a representative of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation to get permission to use any drawings or photos. Drawings, sketches and other materials produced by Rudolph’s architectural office at the Library of Congress are maintained there for preservation, but the intellectual property rights belong to the Paul Rudolph Estate and Ernst Wagner, founder of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.

LOCATION
Address: 3030 East Cornwallis Road
City: Durham
State: North Carolina
Zip Code: 27713
Nation: United States

STATUS
Type: Office
Status: Demolished

TECHNICAL DATA
Date(s): 1982-1986
Site Area:
Floor Area: 120,000 ft² (11,148 m²)
Height:
Floors (Above Ground):
Building Cost:

PROFESSIONAL TEAM
Client: Burroughs Wellcome & Company
Architect: Paul Rudolph
Rudolph Staff: R.D. Chin
Associate Architect: Lockwood Greene
Landscape: MJS Engineering & Land Surveying
Structural:
MEP: Lockwood Greene
QS/PM:

SUPPLIERS
Contractor:
Subcontractor(s): MJS Engineering & Land Surveying (Site Improvements)

Burroughs Wellcome Company - South Building Expansion

The project scope includes the addition of a new wing to the original research facility for the Burroughs Wellcome pharmaceutical company with offices for 250 medical personnel and a dining room for 600.
The plan of the wing is linear in layout and runs north of the original building, for an L with the back of the original building. Rudolph envisions a future addition would turn the L into a U-shaped courtyard.
The building’s angled steel supports echo the slopes of nearby hills. Arranged in sequence, they resemble a crystalline structure, with the dining room on the ground floor and the offices above. This hexagonal module reflects the existing building, and reinforces the linear appearance of the addition. The A-frame of the original building becomes a V in the new wing, that is exposed and repeated along the length of the addition.
One story tall along its perimeter, the dramatic dining room rises to a height of five stories at its skylit center. Rudolph further modulates the space by breaking down the floor into three steppe-like platforms.
MJS Engineering & Land Surveying designs all of the site improvements for the North Office Building, including the complete design of 340 x 160 foot reflecting pool, parking, and truck loading docks. They provided grading, stormwater pipe layout, soil erosion and sediment control and retaining wall design. In addition, a 340 x 160 foot reflecting pool is completely detailed.
Construction of the addition is complete in 1986.