Project in Detail

Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion

The Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion is a 7,700 sq ft visitor center that provides orientation, event spaces, and a permanent exhibition gallery for the Darwin D. Martin House, Frank Lloyd Wright’s residential compound 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 design translates the clusters of interior piers of the Martin House into a single cluster of four piers that support the inverted roof. The Pavilion’s transparent façade and open plan is filled with natural daylight, in contrast to the Martin House’s introverted interior, imbued with 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 that takes advantage of convection and its natural air flow. 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 with low iron glass that optimizes daylight transmission, visibility and thermal insulation.

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