Taliesin West, Drafting Studio, 12621 North Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, Scottsdale

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS AZ-218-D. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

N. Frank Lloyd Wright Scottsdale, Maricopa County, Arizona Taliesin West Drafting Studio is located at latitude: longitude This coordinate was taken at the structure s southeast door adjacent to the kitchen wall and was obtained through Google Earth in February There is no restriction on the release of the locational data to the public.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS AZ-218-D. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

With its distinctive redwood trusses and desert masonry construction, the Taliesin West Drafting Studio is the centerpiece of architect Frank Lloyd Wright s winter camp. Following a slow period in his practice, Wright, at the suggestion of his wife, Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, began taking on apprentices. Under Wright s leadership the apprenticeship grew into a fellowship that lived, worked, and learned under Wright at two seasonal campuses, spending summers at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin and winters at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. Wright considered the winter campus a living laboratory where his apprentices learned by doing and where he could experiment with new construction methods and materials.

As one of the original buildings on site constructed by the fellowship, as well as one of the most heavily modified by Wright, the Drafting Studio exemplifies the concept of the living laboratory. Part I. Historical Information A. Physical history 1. Date of erection: The Drafting Studio was regularly modified under Wright s direction, especially in terms of the building s performance upon the fellowship s yearly wintertime return. 2. Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright 3. Original, and subsequent owners: Frank Lloyd Wright was the original owner of the Taliesin West campus.

The entire campus was deeded to the TALIESIN WEST, DRAFTING STUDIO HABS AZ-218-D (Page 2) Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation by Wright on March 5, On October 3, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation granted the Arizona State Historic Preservation Officer a fifty-year preservation easement, whose term was later extended in perpetuity. 4. Builder, contractor, suppliers: The historic core of the Taliesin West campus was constructed by the fellowship according to Frank Lloyd Wright s design. A majority of the campus building materials, including the desert masonry stones and boulders, and the aggregate used for the concrete, were gathered directly from the desert. 5. Original plans and construction: Sketches and plans are in Wright archive at Avery Architectural Library, Columbia University. 6.

Alterations and additions: Alterations to the Drafting Studio center primarily on the roof system. Three other significant modifications- to the first and last bays and the glazing of the structure- were made by Wright. The Drafting Studio, as originally constructed, was divided into twelve open bays. The north end the Studio is anchored by a small patio and the Vault, the first desert masonry structure constructed at the site. The south end of the Drafting Studio had an open connection to the kitchen, original dining room, and loggia. The first bay, on the north side of the Drafting Room, was modified in the early when Wright enlarged the Vault by extending its south wall through the width of the first bay.

The west side of the first bay was modified with the construction of the small desert masonry alcove. The first three bays on the southwest corner of the building were modified in the early with the construction of a glass box over the existing masonry planter box.

The previously open-air space was glazed in The roof system can be roughly organized into six major iterations: 2 x 10 Douglas Fir 1 x 12 redwood lapped boards at center, canvas each end of bay two Douglas Fir 2 x 12 beams lapped boards replaced by removable canvas flaps added, sandwiched the removable canvas flaps light gauge sheet metal gutter added, wired to nails nailed into TALIESIN WEST, DRAFTING STUDIO HABS AZ-218-D (Page 3) 12 GA steel plate (flitch plate) added, 3 3/8 bolts secure wood beams to plate 12-gauge sheet metal gutter integral to plate (?) transparent fiberglass,1 transparent (okalux) fiberglass insulation (monofilament line), fiberglass diffuser on gutter white acrylic cellular glass insulation canvas lighting added at gutter B.

Historical context: Following a slow period in his practice, Wright, at the suggestion of his wife, Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, began taking on apprentices. Under Wright s leadership the apprenticeship grew into a fellowship that lived, worked, and learned under Wright at two seasonal campuses, spending summers at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin and winters at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. Wright considered the winter campus a living laboratory where his apprentices learned by doing and where he could experiment with new construction methods and materials. As one of the original buildings on site constructed by the fellowship, as well as one of the most heavily modified by Wright, the Drafting Studio exemplifies the concept of the living laboratory. Part II.

Architectural Information A. General statement 1. Architectural character: A careful examination of the Drafting Studio reveals signs of previous additions, deletions, and modifications. As one of the structures most heavily modified under Mr. Wright s direct supervision, the Drafting Studio exemplifies Taliesin West as a desert laboratory. 2. Condition of fabric: The exterior of the structure is in generally good condition. There are limited occurrences of dry rot along the cornice, and water rot at the base of the redwood beams due to runoff. The interior is in good condition. Some of the canvas ceiling panel frames have failed due to thermal expansion of the wood trim, and some of the canvas shows signs of water damage. B. Description of exterior 1.

Overall dimensions: Approximately 30 -0 x 108 -00 comprising square feet. TALIESIN WEST, DRAFTING STUDIO HABS AZ-218-D (Page 4) 2. Foundations: Site work at Taliesin West began during the work season and consisted of site clearing, grading, and road construction. The core Drafting Studio/ kitchen/ original dining room/ loggia structure is constructed on a broad poured concrete and desert masonry platform. 3. Walls: Southwest elevation (plan south): The southwest elevation is dominated by redwood trusses that divide the building into 12 bays. The desert masonry base of the building rises in two battered courses that are horizontally symmetric with the courses of the adjacent Original Dining Room.

Projecting window bays are cantilevered over the desert masonry walls and are constructed of rolled steel frames. The northernmost bay is constructed entirely of desert masonry and is spanned truss-to-truss by an abstraction of the window system mullions. The second, fourth, sixth, and eighth bays are fronted by grade-level plantings. The south end of the building features a stepped patio that rises to the main entrance and enclosed planter. The entrance features slab-style double doors with glass sidelights. The glass enclosure s cornice is detailed in 2 wooden dentils set 4 apart. Northwest (plan west) elevation: The asymmetrical northwest elevation is dominated by the Vault on one third of the building and a low-walled patio.

The Vault, constructed entirely of battered desert masonry, rises four courses to a shed roof, which falls at the same slope as the studio roof. The patio wall, constructed of battered desert masonry, extends from the Vault to the southwestern edge of the fa ade and rises approximately four feet from grade, keeping even with the second course of the Vault. The patio is at grade with the studio. Northeast elevation (plan north): The northeast elevation features a pergola of wood and steel construction. The ground level features four double-door entries and fixed windows. 4. Structural systems & framing: The building is constructed of desert masonry with the roof system consisting of flitch beams supporting the roof.

In section, the flitch beam forms an inverted T with redwood beams sandwiching the steel web. The flange, hanging from the beam, is angled up on both sides, forming a runoff channel. There is no ridge beam, the roof system instead is spanned by three 6 intermediary steel beams. Smaller steel L beam purlins span the roof system between the larger 6 beams and support the canvas ceiling panels and clerestory lights. On the east side, the system rests on a single flitch beam that spans the building north to south, engaging both desert masonry end walls and the intermediary desert masonry piers. On the west side the beams, turning at two 45-degree angles, are squared off and terminate in the low desert masonry wall.

Originally spanned entirely by redwood beams, the steel TALIESIN WEST, DRAFTING STUDIO HABS AZ-218-D (Page 5) framing is a later modification, and the desert masonry walls have been carved out and filled where the steel system joins the masonry. 5. Porches: The Drafting Studio has a porch at its southwest end. Since its original design, the southwest side of Taliesin West has remained an outdoor living space complete with two raised landings, landscaped plantings, and a pool. The smaller of the two, the Drafting Studio porch is tucked into the corner formed by the intersection of the original dining room structure with steps down on two sides to grade. 6. Chimneys: The Drafting Studio fireplace chimney, located on the southeast end, shares a wall with the kitchen.

Constructed entirely of desert masonry, the chimney rises sixteen feet from foundation. The fireplace and chimney are not currently operable and the flue has been capped. 7. Openings a. Doorways and doors: The main doorway is located on the southwest elevation at the porch. The northwest elevation door is a five-sided custom glass door fit to the glass wall system accessing the enclosed patio. There are four sets of double doors along the northeast elevation that open out to the pergola. A single set of double doors on the southeast elevation opens to the kitchen. All exterior doors, save the inoperable north elevation door, are wood double slab-style doors painted Cherokee Red with brass circular pulls on the outside only.

The entrance to the Vault is shut by a metal door with round brass doorknob that does door. The Vault s internal doorway does not have a door. b. Windows and shutters: The Drafting Studio currently has windows on all four elevations. Originally an open-air structure, the first iteration of windows was a system of canvas flaps and baffles that were designed to filter light and manipulate ventilation. The panels consisted of thin wood frames covered in canvas sleeves. In the late Wright began replacing the canvas panel windows with glass. Currently the Drafting Studio is faced with two different window systems. The southwest face and northeast clerestory light systems are constructed of rolled steel mullions with wood trim.

The northeast elevation s ground level fa ade facing the pergola is constructed with wood mullions. The glass is roughly fit to the framing and is joined with silicone sealant. 8. Roof a. Roof shape, covering: The angled shed s roof is designed to catch the morning light and diffuse the afternoon light. Falling northeast to southwest at 15 degrees, the roof is currently covered in thick TALIESIN WEST, DRAFTING STUDIO HABS AZ-218-D (Page 6) opaque acrylic panels . The hollow box-shaped panels are bottomless, braced with acrylic cross members, and are supported by wood strips joined to the steel flitch beams. Below the acrylic boxes is a layer of white foam insulation, followed by wood- framed canvas panels that form the ceiling. b.

Cornice, eaves: The southwest elevation has three distinct sections- the northwest bay, the eight intermediary regular bays, and the glass box on the southeast end. The northwest bay roof and wall is constructed entirely of desert masonry and does not have an eave. A minimal eave if formed on the eight intermediary regular bays where the acrylic roof panels join the rolled steel window framing. The flat roofed glass box breaks the prevailing roofline with its 7 fascia detailed with 2 x 2 wood dentils spaced at 4 . The northwest elevation fascia is detailed with a wood constructed fin projecting out from the fa ade, following the slope of the roof. The fin projects from the wall and is detailed with 2 x 2 wood dentils spaced at 4 .

The east elevation eave projects 2 -1 from the desert masonry, with a 5 fascia and 2 x 2 metal gutter. C. Description of interior 1. Floor plans: The Drafting Studio is rotated approximately 45 degrees from true north, with its long axis running from northwest to southeast. The floor plan is divided on its axis into twelve evenly spaced bays defined by the transverse flitch beams. A small exterior patio, enclosed by a desert masonry wall, is located on the northwest side of the building. The patio has two grade level planters, one of which is sectioned off by a utility pit that is currently empty. The southwest bay is constructed entirely of desert masonry that stretches a quarter of the way into the space.

The walls form a small three-walled office space separated from the rest of the room. The northeast side of the bay is occupied by the desert masonry Vault. The next eight bays are fairly regular with a narrow strip of windows at sitting level on the southwest side, and a glass curtain wall and clerestory on the northeast. The southwest side windows are cantilevered out beyond the walls. A set of custom wood shelving is built into the wall below the broad shelf. The northeast wall, originally open air, is divided by five evenly spaced desert masonry piers that support the transverse roof support beam. The two southernmost bays have been filled with 4 6 desert masonry walls and windows.

One bay is fitted with custom bookshelves, counter space, TALIESIN WEST, DRAFTING STUDIO HABS AZ-218-D (Page 7) built-in light box, and cabinets. The remaining walled bay is empty, save the lighting and HVAC circuit boxes. A 3 deep basement located on the southeast side of the building, formerly an outdoor planter, is enclosed with a glass curtain wall system. A large fireplace, capped and no longer operable, dominates the southeast desert masonry wall shared with the kitchen. 2. Stairways: The Drafting Studio does not contain any stairways. 3. Flooring: The majority of the Drafting Studio s flooring is bare concrete painted Cherokee Red.

There is a roughly rectangular flagstone section of flooring set in desert masonry on the southeast end of the studio that extends from the kitchen wall to the room s midpoint, and from the southeast wall to the third bay. This section includes the stepped fire pit that extends from the southeast wall desert masonry fireplace. 4. Openings a. Doorways and doors: The Drafting Studio s open plan does not include any interior walls or rooms. There is a set of double doors in the southeast wall that separates the studio from the kitchen, and a single door at the Vault s entrance on the northwest end. b. Windows: The only interior windows in the Studio are located on the southeast wall shared with the kitchen.

The double doors separating the two rooms are flanked by a large rectangular window that looks onto the kitchen prep table, and a thinner strip of windows that looks over the wash station and cupboard. 5. Decorative features and trim: As originally built, the Drafting Studio s roof and windows were fitted with fully functional canvas panels that were rigged like a sailing ship with a system of ropes and pulleys that allowed for the adjustment of interior light and ventilation. Following the project to glaze the Studio, some of the panel technology was abstracted into decorative elements.

The north elevation is detailed in a gold and white checkerboard brise-soleil permanently attached to the building that mimics the original canvas panel system used to shade the interior from afternoon light. The fa ade also includes two sets of intricately carved and painted vertically extended poles that abstract the system of tent poles originally used to frame a draped canvas awning. 6. Hardware: The Drafting Studio s exterior doors are detailed with distinctive brass door pulls. The semicircular pulls are matched so that when the doors are closed the pulls form a brass circle at the center of the two doors. There are no pulls on the door interiors. TALIESIN WEST, DRAFTING STUDIO HABS AZ-218-D (Page 8) 7. Mechanical equipment a.

Heating, air-conditioning, ventilation: The building has a forced air system. b. Lighting: Interior lighting consists of a system of recessed fluorescents and a series of highly detailed pendant fixtures. The fluorescent system is built into the interior channels of the wood and steel flitch beams spanning the studio. The system is not visible and relies on the reflectivity of the canvas ceiling panels to cast an even light into the Studio s interior. A series of carved wood icicle pendants hang from the ceiling at regular intervals across the width of the studio. The pendants, painted Cherokee Red with gold lozenge detail, are hung with three bulbs on the one face and a single bulb on the opposite side. c.

Plumbing: Originally open to the elements, the Drafting Studio does not contain plumbing. 8. Original furnishings: The original Wright-designed drafting tables and benches are still used in the Drafting Studio. Entirely wood constructed, the drafting table design is based on a pair of vertical support struts that support the drafting surface and from which angled legs project from. A second set of hinged struts connected to the base of the vertical struts and extending diagonally up forms the drafting surface adjustable supports. The drafting surface can be adjusted into three positions. The table includes a built-in bookshelf on one side, and an open cubby on the other though there are four slightly different iterations of the table shelving.

The sides of the table are detailed with small triangular orange insert panels that contrast with the Cherokee Red tables. The bench design is based on the drafting table and reads as a miniature of the table in reverse. Part III. Project Information The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation sponsored the documentation of the Drafting Studio. Graduate students from the College of Architecture, Construction and Planning of the University of Texas at San Antonio started the project in June with Sue Ann Pemberton, FAIA, as the faculty sponsor. Field team members were Valeria R. Bruizuela, Laura M. Bustillos, Jonathan R. Gonzalez, Marcus A. Huerta, Stephanie J. Mediola, Gustavo Ochoa, Diana R. Rodriquez, Maitreyee M. Satia, Troy T. Tynan, Mansour Yousefpour.

Porter Hehr, Andi Poore, and Austin Villejo completed the final drawings. The documentation was submitted to HABS through the Peterson Prize student drawing competition.