JOHN DEERE ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS, 1956-1964

Moline, Illinois Eero Saarinen and Partners

Eero Saarinen’s headquarters for a farm equipment man­ufacturer is a success of modernist design and industrial technology. It is the prototypical office-in-the-garden where nature and building complement each other. As classic modern architecture, the John Deere Headquarters also offers an excellent model for the integration of tech­nical innovation with design sensitivity.

The major building materials at Deere were new to building construction, or at least made new through design inventions. With his technology specialist John Dinkeloo and chief designer Kevin Roche, Saarinen brought weathering steel and reflective glass into the mainstream architectural palette via the Deere building. Saarinen identified, refined, and adapted these technolo­gies — not as new materials waiting to be pioneered, but as ideal answers to a particular design proposition.

JOHN DEERE ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS, 1956-1964

TABLE 6.1 Fact Sheet

Project

Client

City

Lat/Long/Elev

John Deere & Company, with William Hewitt as CEO Moline, Illinois

41.47N 90.45W, 650 ft (198 m)

Team

Architect

Structural Engineer Mechanical Engineer Acoustics Lighting

Landscape Architects Project Manager General Contractor

Eero Saarinen and Associates; Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo, partners Ammann & Whitney

Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company Bolt, Beranek & Newman, Inc.

Richard Kelly

Sasaki, Walker and Associates Inc.

Booz, Allen and Hamilton Huber, Hunt & Nichols

General

Time Line Floor Area

Occupants

Cost

1995 Cost in US$ Stories

Plan

Commissioned in 1956. Eero Saarinen died September 1,1961 —four days after the construction contract was let. Building was dedicated June 5,1964.

350,443 ft2 (32,541 m2) total. Administration building 297,132 ft2 (27,591 m2); Exhibit Hall, 23,000 ft2 (2136 m2), and Auditorium, 30,311 ft2 (2815 m2).

800 to 1000 office occupants.

Estimated at $10 million, actual price is unpublished. About $28.54/ft2.

$49.8 million or about $142/ft2 based on the $10 million estimate.

Administration building, seven stories plus full basement, but entered at level four by bridge from Exhibit Hall.

North – and south-facing rectangle about 330 ft x 96 ft 100m x 29m), floor plates of 31,600 ft2 (2934 m2) on 3 x 6 ft (0.9m x 1.8m) grid module.

Site

Site Description Parking, Cars

Three farms of rolling hillside were purchased for the project, totaling about 720 acres (288 hectares), for about $600 per acre. Total cost of about $432,000 in 1956, or about $2.26 million ($3141 per acre) in 1995 dol­lars. Two lakes totaling 4 acres (1.6ha) were constructed immediately south of the administration building.

718.

Structure

Foundation Vertical Members

Horizontal Spans

Not determined.

Welded external frame of high tensile strength A-242 Cor-ten steel. Columns at 30 ft wide by 42 ft deep bays, center bay of 12 x 30 ft.

Welded trusses of same A-242 steel. No diagonals were required.

Envelope

Glass and Glazing

Cladding

Roof

Upper five floors use laminated glass with bronze reflective interlayer. Performance is given at 47.7% solar transmission and 38% visible transmission. Lower two floors are set back from perimeter and use clear glass. Neoprene gaskets rest directly on / in. thick flanges and steel plates welded to structure. All glazing is set in these gaskets.

Spandrels are glass exterior over metal panels. Some brick is used at lower levels and at the Exhibit/Auditorium buildings.

Tar and gravel built-up roof on insulation on 0.5 in. metal deck.

HVAC

Equipment

Cooling Type Distribution Duct Type Vertical Chases

1600 ton cooling plant. The larger lake is used as a spray pond to reject heat in lieu of a cooling tower. Space heating is from two gas-fired boilers, each of 25 million Btuh (747 horsepower or 7328 kW each). Direct expansion.

Dual duct with 727 mixing boxes serving 516 thermostat zones. Fan capacity totals 1 million ft3 per minute. Round flex duct to continuous base register at perimeter sill and to ceiling registers above louvered ceiling. Shafts.

Interior

Partitions

Finishes

Circulation

Furniture

Lighting

Movable steel partitions and glass infill.

Wood, carpet, and glass.

Center axis open corridor in 12 ft space between the 30 ft x 42 ft structural bays.

Custom-designed furnishings by the architect. Secretarial desks are set pedestal style on floor-mounted posts. Luminous ceiling fluorescent lighting with open cell grid diffusers.

Dual duct HVAC with 727 mixing boxes serving 516 thermostat zones. Fan capacity totals one million cubic feet per minute.

Welded external frame of high tensile strength A-242 Cor-ten steel. Columns at 30-ft wide by 42-ft deep bays, center bay of 12 x 30 feet. Welded trusses of same A-242 steel. No diagonal bracing was required.

Spandrels are glass exterior over metal panels.

JOHN DEERE ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS, 1956-1964

Round flex duct to continuous base register at perimeter sill and to ceiling registers above louvered ceiling.

1600 ton cooling plant. Large lake is used as a spray pond to reject heat in lieu of a cooling tower. Space heating is from two gas fired boilers each of 25 million Btuh (747 horsepower or 7328 kW each).

JOHN DEERE ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS, 1956-1964

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Year

Degree-Days Heating

1355

1093

861

444

175

22

3

8

107

369

775

1192

6413

Temperature

Degree-Days Cooling

0

0

1

13

65

209

316

261

100

18

0

0

977

Extreme High

69

71

88

93

95

101

103

103

99

92

78

69

103

Normal High

30

34

46

61

72

82

85

84

76

65

48

34

60

Normal Average

21

26

37

51

61

71

75

73

65

54

39

27

50

Normal Low

12

17

28

40

50

60

64

62

53

42

30

18

40

Extreme Low

-27

-25

-19

7

26

39

46

40

30

16

-9

-24

-27

Dew Point

13

18

27

37

48

59

64

63

54

42

30

19

40

Humidity

Max % RH

76

78

79

78

79

81

85

89

87

82

80

79

81

Min % RH

66

63

57

50

49

50

54

55

52

49

59

67

56

% Days With Rain

20

22

35

47

48

43

41

37

38

36

33

24

35

Rain Inches

2

1

3

4

4

5

5

4

4

3

2

2

37

Sky

% Overcast Days

52

54

55

50

45

40

29

32

33

35

53

58

45

% Clear Days

27

29

23

25

25

24

27

30

35

36

26

23

28

Wind

Prevailing Direction

WNW

WNW

WNW

WNW

S

S

S

S

S

S

WNW

WNW

WNW

Speed, Knots

12

12

12

13

10

9

8

8

9

10

12

12

11

Percent Calm

6

6

5

6

9

11

13

14

14

11

7

5

9

Rain

6

7

11

14

15

13

12

11

12

11

10

7

129

Days Observed

Fog

12

12

13

11

11

9

12

15

14

13

13

13

149

Haze

10

12

11

8

9

9

12

14

10

9

10

10

126

Snow

14

12

8

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

6

12

54

Hail

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

Freezing Rain

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

2

Blowing Sand

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

table 6.2 Normal Climate Data for Moline, Illinois

Updated: 3rd October 2014 — 1:47 pm