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.
TABLE 6.1 Fact Sheet |
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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 Estimated at $10 million, actual price is unpublished.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. |
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).
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 |