Fire Station Chic

    We are accustomed to seeing Modern architecture in places like down towns, college campus, or maybe even beside old major highways, but sometimes we find them in places that we least expect it. This is the case with this week's building. It is North Little Rock Fire Station No. 6. It sits at the intersection of Camp Robinson Road and Schaer Street in Levy, a small section of North Little Rock. Levy has never been a well-to-do area of North Little Rock. At its founding in 1892, Levy served mainly at a resting point for merchants going to Little Rock because they did not charge the high "over-night" fee that many Little Rock purveyors did. Levy was eventually annexed to North Little Rock in 1946. Levy had always been a blue collar area but when the construction of Interstate 40 cut it off from a great deal of North Little Rock, it took a turn for the worse. Levy is now an area of high crime and low employment. Things are starting to improve there but they are still not great. It is in this setting, in the shadow of the Interstate 40 overpass that we find this Modern beauty.
     The 1960's saw a great deal of building in North Little Rock. The established neighborhoods of Lakewood and Sherwood were significantly expanded and populations were steadily rising. It was during this time that many public service buildings were constructed. Fire Station No. 6 was among them. Fire Station No. 6 was designed by local architect Raymond Branton in 1964. Branton is also the architect for the former Sylvan Hills Country Clubhouse, now called the Greens at North Hills. While Branton's design for the fire station is not the high Mies-ian or Corbusier-ian Modern that we have been looking at, it is still unquestionably Modern and shows a great deal of innovation.

Structural Framework

     First lets look at the classically Modern elements of the design. Most notably we have the white concrete structure-work that frames the building. This idea of having the structure of the building exposed and apparent was one of the base principles of Modernism. We also have the flat roof of the Modern movement on this building as well as a complete lack of any unnecessary ornamentation. The entire composition of the exterior is all geometric massing, exposed structure, and floating planes. An interesting element here that we have seen in other Modern buildings, such as the Lee House No. 2 in New Canaan, CT, is the material massings. The center of the building is all glass on both front and back, almost like a glass box that was slid in between two masonry boxes. This creates a striking contrast between the middle and sides. The sides only have glass on the upper half of the eastern and western ends. This type of material massing is very similarly in the Lee House No. 2. It serves to separate the public from the private spaces, in this case the truck and equipment areas from the living quarters and offices.

Lee House No. 2 by John Black Lee in New Canaan, CT (1956)

     Now lets discuss the innovations and unique aspects of this building. First lets look at the material between the structural framework. We see that the infill between the framework columns and beams is concrete block. Now this may look like these concrete block walls are structural, but they are not. We know this because the joints between the blocks line up from top to bottom. This creates a lot of weakness in the walls, and should they have actually been supporting the structure, there would be significant cracking and breaking. The likely justification for the concrete blocks is for fire safety. It only makes sense to make a fire station fire proof. Another interesting and slightly innovative element to the fire station is the doors for the central bay. They are glass garage doors. These had only been used in one other building prior to this in the state. Dietrich Neyland used them in his design for the Arkansas Arts Center's first addition to provide lots of light and easy ventilation for the studio spaces. Branton is probably using them more for their stylish qualities rather than functional  here, but they complete the composition, so they are just as valid, and only marginally less innovative.

Glass Bay Door 

     The lesson that we should take away from Fire Station No. 6 is that Modern buildings can be anywhere and everywhere. They were functional as all types of buildings and where built in all sorts of areas. While the light of Levy's glory may be very dim, this Modern masterpiece shines bright all on its own.

For more information on the Lee House No.2, please refer to the following link:
http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/sites/northeast-region/new-canaan-ct/sites/lee-house-2.html

"She's a Brick House"

     This week we return to our more Modern buildings. Here is the former ACME Brick showroom building on Victory St in Little Rock, AR. This building is really a step beyond the International Style movement that we have been discussing. It contains many elements found in the International Style, but there are a few ornamental touches that would have been somewhat sacrilege in the International Style movement. However, we will discuss the architectural elements of the building in a moment. First let me tell you a bit more about the building's history. The ACME Building was designed by the firm of Eherhart, Eichenbaum, & Rauch and was constructed in 1958. Eherhart, Eichenbaum, & Rauch is the firm that is responsible for buildings such as Beaux-Arts Parnell Hall at Arkansas School for the Deaf (1931), the Art Moderne styled Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanitarium in Booneville (1938), and the original International Style St. Vincent's Hospital (1958) at the corner of University and Markham in Little Rock.The ACME Building was designed to serve as the showroom for the various products that ACME Brick had to offer. To this end, the firm designed the building in such a way that the exterior became as much a showroom as the interior was.  We see the dark, almost black brick on the majority of the facade. The inset on the West facade is accented by yellow and golden bricks with concrete textile blocks creating sun screens in front of the windows. The floating steps are even made of bricks which were set into a cantilevered metal frame. When looking at the building with this mindset, it fully exemplifies the Modern architectural concept of the function or purpose of a building being evident on its exterior. ACME stayed in the building until 1996 when they sold it to the state for offices. Various different agencies have been housed in the building since then, most recently the Arkansas Asphalt Pavement Association. However, there will never be a more appropriate inhabitant than ACME Brick. Now, let us discuss the architecture of the building, from top to bottom.
     Starting with the roof of the ACME building, we find our first significant feature. While it may appear as your standard floating, flat roof, the same sort of roof seen in hundreds of other Modern buildings, it is in the construction of it where we find its significance. It was created use of what is called a "lift slab" system. This is done when the roof plane is poured on the ground and then lifted up by means of hydraulic jacks to rest upon the structural columns which are installed after it is lifted. To my knowledge, this was the first building in the state to have this construction system implemented on it.

    Next, let us move from the roof to the body of the building. Other than the beautiful, if not a touch gaudy, metallic gold bricks, the most noticeable feature on the building's main facade is the concrete textile block screens that adorn it. This elements, which constitute a departure from the strict ornamental minimalism of International Style, serve a function beyond just aesthetics. These screens not only provide a bit of privacy to the offices beyond the windows which sit behind the screens, but they also provide a bit of shade without completely blocking the light. Similar design elements were used in the highly popularized Palm Springs Modern houses of A. Quincey Jones, Palmer & Krisel, and George & Robert Alexander. We also see this architectural feature locally in Arkansas. Architect Dietrich Neyland of Ginocchi, Cromwell, & Associates used a very similar concept in his designs for Reynolds Elementary in Morrilton (1956), UALR Commons (1956), and two buildings at Philanders Smith College in Little Rock (1957). The internationally renowned Arkansas architect Edward D. Stone was also known for commonly using a concrete textile block screen. Some notable examples of this from him are his designs for Carlson Terrace Apartments (1957) and the Sigma Nu Fraternity House (1953), both at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. The likelihood that the designers at Eherhart, Eichenbaum, & Rauch were familiar with these building is pretty high, but no direct connections can really be made on influence. However, it is a functional as well as beautiful element to include on any Modern building, and it certainly does help this one to stand out a bit more.

UALR Commons by Dietrich Neyland (1956)

Carlson Terrace Apartments by Edward D. Stone (1957)

     Finally, we come to the base, or more specifically, the stairs. This is actually my favorite element on the entire building. They were designed by a young Gene Levy who was interning with Eherhart, Eichenbaum, & Rauch while he was in school. Mr. Levy went on to work directly under Dietrich Neyland at Cromwell, and later to become a partner at Cromwell, but I digress. While Mr. Levy describes the stairs a series of geese looking over one another, I think there is a more famous source of inspiration for these stairs. A similar set of floating stairs were designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for his Farnsworth House (1951). Young Mr. Levy, being a good architecture student, would have known of this elegant staircase. Now whether Mr. Levy was conscious of this influence is unknowable, but the staircase that came out of young Mr. Levy's mind is a source of joy for me every time I drive by and see them.

Gene Levy's design for the ACME Building staircase

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's staircase at Farnsworth House (1951)

   As we have seen, though this building may have intended to be just a simple showcase, the resulting composition is one of lasting interest and significance.

A detail shot of the golden brick and concrete textile block screen