Saturday, October 20, 2012

Burroughs Wellcome Headquarters Tour


I ride past the former Burroughs Wellcome pharmecutical research & development campus every day on my bike commute.  The headquarters building, finished in 1971, was the architectural highlight of the then-new Research Triangle Park.  Architectural aficionados have always loved this futuristic building.  (Click left photo to enlarge.)

The building was so futuristic, that many scenes in the 1983 science fiction movie 'Brainstorm' were filmed inside and outside the campus (wikipedia) (trailer)  And one of the characters in the film commuted to work on a Ryan Recumbents Avatar (backstory).   In homage to the film and to the recumbent, I posed my bike in front of the main entrance (Click the photo at right to enlarge).

Fast forward to 2012, and the campus has been empty for ten years due to corporate acquisitions.  The campus has recently been bought by yet-another company, who graciously allowed the local Triangle Modernist Houses society to sponsor a tour today before major renovations begin.

We went on the tour.  We walked through several floors inside the headquarters building and roamed the grounds.  It was very neat.

Enjoy two photo albums:
Outside of the building:  the futuristic exterior and lush grounds
Inside the building:   the lobby, auditorium, executive suites, conference rooms, roof decks, cafeteria, etc.

1 comment:

skiffrun said...

Thanks for the pics, Andy. I've never been inside, nor very close to the outside, of that(ose) building(s).

...M