Cooper 1 Zach Cooper Fredrick Lloyd English 150 24 October 2011 Beardshear Hall Who would think that a couple of fires to the Old Main Building on the Iowa State University Campus would lead to such a great thing? Thanks to these fires, ISU decided to build a different building in its place, The Central Building. The Central Building, which was later renamed Beardshear Hall, was built in 1906 (Reis, Schaefer, and Christian). Beardshear Hall looks like a state capital, and has an early twentieth century detail that makes it hard to find a similar building anywhere else. Beardshear Hall is a historic part of the Iowa State University Campus that reminds people of different things. Beardshear Hall is a significant building on the Iowa State University Campus. 1. History of Beardshear Hall Proudfoot and Bird Architects built Beardshear Hall from 1903 to 1906. The building took approximately $407,000 to build back in 1903, which is equal to $10,200,000 today ( Beardshear Hall Restoration ). Before Beardshear Hall was built there was a building called Old Main. Old Main stood where Beardshear Hall does now, and was the main building on campus. After a number of fires (and one that burnt Old Main to the ground), the leaders of Iowa State University decided to build a new building in its place (Lesher). This building was called the Central Building. The president of the university at the time of the Central Building s construction was William Beardshear, who would later be given the honor of having the building named after him in 1938. They named the Central Building
Cooper 2 after William Beardshear because he was the president of Iowa State University at the time of its construction. Beardshear Hall was constructed to house the Office of the President, the Departments of English, Mathematics, Botany, History, Modern Languages, and Elocution, the Office of the Secretary and Treasurer, and the Office of the Board of Trustees ( Beardshear Hall ). Now Beardshear Hall has been accommodated to house the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Business... the Office of Student Financial Aid and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, along with other minor offices, such as, the Student Answer Center ( Beardshear Hall ). The history of Old Main, which led to the building of Beardshear Hall, is why designers used certain materials to build Beardshear Hall. 2. Materials used to Build Beardshear Hall Due to fires that caused the destruction of Old Main, the architects used fire proof buff Bedford stone in much of the construction, as well as, scagliola columns to help keep the building fire proof ( Beardshear Hall ). The scagliola columns look so [much] like marble that even experts were deceived, including myself when I went on a visit to Beardshear Hall ( Beardshear Hall ). The floor of Beardshear Hall is a combination of tile and stone. Beardshear Hall also has multiple stained glass panels. The stained glass panels on the ceiling of the north and south end of the building looks exactly alike (see figure 1). There is also a stained glass panel on top of the dome of Beardshear Hall. These stained glass panels help Figure 1: Self- taken picture of the stained glass on the north end of Beardshear Hall.
Cooper 3 contrast the gold coloring in the rest of the dome. The roof of the building is made out of green tile, which used to leak, but thanks to a recent repair has been sealed. The twenty- six steps that lead up to the main entrance of Beardshear Hall were originally made out of limestone, but due to ninety- five years of being used were replaced by similar looking cast- stone (The Beardshear Hall Restoration Project). The inside of the dome is also made up of approximately 17,000 individual 3 1/8 inch square gold leaves which total a weight of 10.12 ounces ( Beardshear Hall Restoration ). The materials used to construct Beardshear Hall are unique, but they would be worthless without the layout and design of this massive building. 3. Layout and Design of Beardshear Hall The building has four floors. On the first floor there is the Student Answer Center where students can go to if they need help. The first floor also has glass doors for the entrances into other offices. The distinguished academics from Iowa State University are also located on the first floor, where there is a bio on each person and what they did to contribute to the fame and success of Iowa State University. The first floor has the most modern design, but that is because the first floor is the most recently renovated part of the building ( Beardshear Hall Restoration ). The second floor of Beardshear Hall is much more detailed. It is home to the President s Office and many other offices, which makes it one of the most important places on campus. Also, the columns on the second floor look similar to marble. The columns have gold coloring on the top of them. The second floor also has marble looking railings, but due to the fire resistance of the building they are made out of scagliola. The second floor is considered the main floor because it is where the twenty- six steps at the front entrance lead too. On the third floor there continues to be amazing detail
Cooper 4 everywhere, including the detail of the metal railings that add a modern touch to the inside of the building, yet keep the historic significance that the architects wanted (see figure 2). The third floor is also home to a number of different offices. The fourth floor of Beardshear Hall is not seen very much. There are no offices on the fourth floor. The fourth floor has a conference room and a mysterious staircase that leads to a locked door. The Figure 2: Self- taken picture of the metal railing on the third floor. most unique thing about the fourth floor is the arched hallways and the ability to get as close to the best part of the building, the dome. The dome is the best part about Beardshear Hall. The inside of the dome is a marvelous piece of the artwork. It is made up of the gold leaves, talked about earlier. These gold leaves are designed in a repeating square pattern. The top of the dome is also a piece of stained glass (see figure 3). The dome is the pivotal point of Beardshear Hall. Even though the dome is the best part of Beardshear Hall there are many other details to look at inside this building. Figure 3: Self- taken picture of the inside of the dome in Beardshear Hall. Inside Beardshear Hall there are small details that many people do not take an appreciation for. For instance, the staircases in Beardshear Hall are like none I ve ever seen before. They are open and look as if they are hanging. The reason the stairs look like they are hanging is because they are attached to a supportive rod that helps stabilize the stairs. Another interesting detail about the stairs of Beardshear Hall is that the rod that attaches
Cooper 5 to the wall is going into a lion s mouth. The last interesting detail about the inside of Beardshear Hall is that it has detailed dangling lights, which resemble chandeliers. There was a great amount of detail that was put into the inside of Beardshear Hall, but what about the outside of this great building? Every aspect of the building has a detailed line here, or an extra pattern there. The outside of the building looks like a big concrete building, but once you get close you realize the detail. The north, south, and west sides of the building are the least interesting sides of the building. They show all the windows that Beardshear Hall has and the detailed lines of the building. The east side of the building is the most interesting side of the building. The east side is the home of the twenty- six steps that lead to the second floor. The east side of the building is also where the massive columns are located that makes the building look like the White House in Washington D.C. The outside of the dome is most easily seen from the east side of the building as well. The outside of the dome is green with a point at the top, which is a piece of stained glass. The best part about the outside of Beardshear Hall is the inscription of Iowa State University on the triangular shape stone atop the massive columns. This inscription used to say Iowa State College but was later changed to Iowa State University (Reis, Schaefer, and Christian). Beardshear Hall has many details that the architects had to consider while building it. 4. Interpretation of Architects Intentions The architects of Beardshear Hall were from Proudfoot and Bird Architects. Their main goal was to make this building one of the central points of the Iowa State University s campus. The architects also wanted to add to the beauty of central campus. The detail they put into Beardshear Hall is similar to other early twentieth century buildings details, it was
Cooper 6 how architects built during that time period. The architects of Beardshear Hall wanted to make it so that this building would stand out. They used a green dome, massive entrance columns, and twenty- six intimidating steps to help achieve this goal. They also wanted to make it unique. They did this by fireproofing most of the building and by using 10.18 ounces of real gold on the inside of the dome ( Beardshear Hall Restoration ). The architects got what they wanted and they achieved excellence by creating one of the central buildings on the Iowa State University Campus. 5. Restoration of Beardshear Hall Much of what the original Beardshear Hall still stands today, but there has been some restoration. Throughout the years, Beardshear Hall has been modified to meet criteria for changing fire codes and safety codes, but in 1998 the architects at Brooks Borg Skiles Architecture Engineering out of Des Moines started planning the restoration of the nearly one hundred year- old building ( Beardshear Hall Restoration ). It happens to be a coincidence that Brooks Borg Skiles is a direct descendant of the architect from Proudfoot and Bird who designed the original Beardshear Hall ( Beardshear Hall Restoration ). They restored much of the first floor creating the Student Answer Center and remodeling other offices. Brooks Borg Skiles put a great emphasis on the restoration of the dome. They wanted to restore it back to its original color and beauty ( Portfolio ISU Beardshear Hall ). Along with the restoration of the dome, the architects wanted to replicate the original stained glass panels, which had been removed some time ago. With the help of James and Faye Whitaker, who bought part of the original stained glass panel in 1961, and Marty Grund, the Restoration Store (the company in charge of recreating the original stained glass panels) was able to reproduce the original stained glass panels ( Beardshear Hall
Cooper 7 Restoration ). The restoration of Beardshear Hall made the building more useful for students and even more beautiful. 6. Likes and Dislikes of Beardshear Hall There are many things to like about Beardshear Hall. The scagliola columns, the twenty- six steps, the gold dome on the inside, and the staircases that appear to be hanging are just a few of examples. Even with all the good things about Beardshear Hall there are some things to not like about the building. On the outside of the building there is the same pattern of stone on floors two through four, but the first floor has extra horizontal lines. This splits the building up and makes Beardshear Hall look not as uniform. Another bad thing about Beardshear Hall are the dirt marks on the outside of the building. The dirt marks resemble burn marks, but they are not. This kind of stone accumulates dirt and draws attention away from the architecture of the building. The worst part about Beardshear Hall is the color of the outside of the dome. The color is an ugly green that looks horrible with the surrounding trees. The only reason why the dome could be this color is because the designer wanted to make the dome blend in with nature, but the designer used a terrible color to achieve that. Even with the negatives about Beardshear Hall, the overall building is a masterful piece of art. 7. Conclusion In order to understand the true beauty of the building, one must go there and take in all that this one hundred and five year old building has to offer. The multitude of things that Beardshear Hall has to offer is limitless, from the Student Answers Center to the detailed architecture, there is no better place on campus to go and visit. The unfortunate burning down of Old Main led to the rise of this building that Proudfoot and Bird Architects had the
Cooper 8 honor of creating. Thanks to them and the restoration project of Brooks Borg Skiles Architecture Firm, Beardshear Hall is one of Iowa State University s proudest buildings.