side wings. The competition program called for a, certain number of rooms of a certain size and it also limited the size of the building, that is to say, there is a restriction on the property which definitely locates the exterior walls of the building on it. 1 was, therefore, forced in the competition to put the stairs in the wings at the end of the corridor in front, in order to obtain the requisite area for the rooms, and the end pavilions were, therefore, the width of the room and the corridor. I felt this was too wide and obtained permission to decrease the size of these rooms slightly and to
eliminate the corridor upon the second floor, so that now the end pavilion is merely the width of the room, and the corridor extends only as far as the cross corridor.
The other dimensions of the two plans are identical. Another change was a slight increase in the height of the main order and a considerable increase in the height and diameter of the dome. The competition elevation, I might add, came just inside the cube. One reason for the increase in diameter was a radical change in scheme by the Commission when the working drawings were half completed. The competition program, an excellent one, by the way, very simple and direct, prepared by Col. J. Hollis Wells, called for a Memorial Room of four thousand feet area on the
second floor, on my elevation the floor line being the floor of the colonnade, the space below this room being utilized for a large lobby, coat rooms and their dependencies. The placing of the Memorial Hall on the second floor called for a monumental stair which I placed in a concentric ring between the wall under the colonnade and the wall under the dome, landing under the portico in a low structure at the rear of the colonnade. I figured that this enclosure would hardly be visible from the street and if it were, would be unobjectionable. It is shown on the model as the model was
practically complete when the change was made.
The Commission, after some discussion, concluded that the Memorial Room would be finer if it were of greater height, and were entered directly from the terrace, and authorized me to omit the floor at the colonnade level, eliminate the lobby and nearly double the height of the room. Consequently now the stairs are gone, that is, the monumental stairs, and there only remain the narrower stairs to the coat rooms in the basement, and the depth of the colonnade is decreased by three feet from what it was on the competition drawing, and by one foot and a half from what is shown on the model. This is a great improvement. I felt in the competition drawing there was too much depth to the colonnade but I had
Competition Plan
eliminate the corridor upon the second floor, so that now the end pavilion is merely the width of the room, and the corridor extends only as far as the cross corridor.
The other dimensions of the two plans are identical. Another change was a slight increase in the height of the main order and a considerable increase in the height and diameter of the dome. The competition elevation, I might add, came just inside the cube. One reason for the increase in diameter was a radical change in scheme by the Commission when the working drawings were half completed. The competition program, an excellent one, by the way, very simple and direct, prepared by Col. J. Hollis Wells, called for a Memorial Room of four thousand feet area on the
second floor, on my elevation the floor line being the floor of the colonnade, the space below this room being utilized for a large lobby, coat rooms and their dependencies. The placing of the Memorial Hall on the second floor called for a monumental stair which I placed in a concentric ring between the wall under the colonnade and the wall under the dome, landing under the portico in a low structure at the rear of the colonnade. I figured that this enclosure would hardly be visible from the street and if it were, would be unobjectionable. It is shown on the model as the model was
practically complete when the change was made.
The Commission, after some discussion, concluded that the Memorial Room would be finer if it were of greater height, and were entered directly from the terrace, and authorized me to omit the floor at the colonnade level, eliminate the lobby and nearly double the height of the room. Consequently now the stairs are gone, that is, the monumental stairs, and there only remain the narrower stairs to the coat rooms in the basement, and the depth of the colonnade is decreased by three feet from what it was on the competition drawing, and by one foot and a half from what is shown on the model. This is a great improvement. I felt in the competition drawing there was too much depth to the colonnade but I had
Competition Plan