Publish Date:
08/30/2013
Oklahoma Firm With Local Customer Base
Preserves Piece of Architectural History
An Oklahoma company with a significant customer base in the
Permian Basin and a Midland office in ClayDesta Plaza at 24 Smith
Road, is taking steps to preserve a piece of architectural history.
TEEMCO, an environmental
professional engineering firm serving
the oil and gas, agriculture and
marine industries, has purchased
the historic Gold Dome building
in Oklahoma City located on the
legendary Route 66.
A spokeswoman for the company
said a number of TEEMCO’s clients
have mentioned the move.
B a s e d o n B u c k m i n s t e r F u l l e r ’s
geodesic dome and one of the first
geodesic domes in the world, the
Gold Dome is listed on the National
Registry of Historic Places.
“Our company believes the building
should be preserved for future
generations to appreciate,” said
Greg Lorson, chief executive officer.
“Revitalizing the Gold Dome reflects
our core belief in protecting the
environment; whether natural or manmade.” Lorson explained, “We intend
to restore as many original elements
to the building as possible while
introducing some new complimentary
e l e m e n t s t o t h e i n t e r i o r. I c a n ’ t
disclose details, but I will tell you
we plan to install a water feature in
the interior lobby along with a hightech feature. In the end, we want
the building to represent a coming
together of nature, physics, art and
technology. In this way the building
will be functional art communicating
the value of man’s positive impact
on our environment.”
to build a geodesic dome, he was
awarded a U.S. Patent for his dome
structure.
TEEMCO will move 65 of its national
headquarters staff from Edmond into
the 27,000-square-foot landmark
in late 2013. It will be renamed
the TEEMCO Gold Dome and the
TEEMCO Foundation will soon host
a groundbreaking event.
In addition to environmental
engineering, TEEMCO has also
developed several proprietary
software solutions for environmental
compliance management and risk
management. Alongside its Edmond
headquarters and Midland satellite
office, TEEMCO has offices in
Houston, Pittsburg, Kansas and
Pittsburgh, Pa. and in Washington,
D.C.
Built in 1958, the building’s architects
— Bailey, Bozalis, Dickinson, and
Roloff — utilized Buckminster Fuller’s
geodesic dome design. It was
the third geodesic dome building
ever built in the world. Architect,
philosopher, author, engineer and
futurist, Buckminster Fuller explored
t h e u s e o f n a t u r e ’s c o n s t r u c t i n g
principles to find design solutions.
While he was not the first architect
It was a dome of many firsts: The
first dome to have a gold-anodized
aluminum roof, the first above-ground
geodesic dome, and the first Kaiser
Aluminum dome used as a bank and
was billed as the “Bank of Tomorrow.”
Source:
McEwen, M. (2013, August 30).
Oklahoma firm with local customer base
preserves piece of architectural history.
M R T. c o m . R e t r i e v e d J u n e 4 , 2 0 1 4 ,
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