By Byron L. West, AIA, Vice-President, Professional Services, Rudolph/Libbe, Inc., Waldbridge, Ohio

In 1970, a structurally significant masonry building was built in Northwest Ohio as a memorial to Frank and Robert Stranahan by their sons, Duane and Robert, Jr. All funds for construction of the Stranahan Memorial Community Services Building were given by the Stranahan Foundation to the United Way of Greater Toledo. The building housed almost half of the United Way agencies in the region, permitting the staffs of these agencies to interact and work more conveniently with each other. The quarters were also much more attractive and serviceable than the marginal spaces they had earlier occupied.

Inasmuch as the project is a memorial, an overriding objective was to create a building which would be timeless in design. At the time, I was a partner in the firm of Samborn, Steketee, Otis and Evans, and felt that a solution could best be devised by using elements of sun, shade and shadow, which themselves are timeless.

As early sketches unfolded, it became evident that brick afforded the ideal material to create varied breaks, cuts and angles in the façade. Further, it was a clear choice in terms of the urban context in which the building is placed. It also allowed the creation of a wide variety of window openings-many of which are positioned to capitalize on impressive views from the building.

Since the building is located at the edge of the urban center and can be viewed from the perspective of some distance, it was determined that the eave profile should be of various heights and angles to emulate the interrupted and broken skyline of the city beyond. Again, masonry provided the flexibility to allow that design concept to be carried out in its fullest. In achieving the initial design objective of timelessness, the most significant element of this building remains its use of masonry for the entire five-story structure. The use of brick and block composite walls made it possible to conveniently construct the building on a somewhat crenellated footprint. By virtue of the fact that each masonry wall section is angled at least once, each masonry pier became quite rigid structurally. It was decided to use these piers, which were initially conceived as visual elements, as the entire supporting structure for the five-story building.

It was desirable to keep the walls as thin as possible and not increase their 12-in. thickness as loads accumulated from top to bottom. In order to achieve that objective, the entire exterior façade was designed as a series of distinct, but continuous, 12-in. thick reinforced masonry walls. From the third story down, each wall is 12-in. thick, made up of four inches of exterior brick, four inches of interior concrete block, and four inches of reinforced concrete poured in the space between the brick and the block. The strength of these piers is/was sufficient to carry the floor loadings without increasing the wall thickness. Above the third floor, it was possible to carry the load simply with 4-in. face brick and 8-in. concrete block. Type M masonry cement mortar was used throughout the project.

The main entrance to the building is an interesting exercise in masonry work. Commencing at a point about 12 feet above the entrance floor and at each side of the entrance, the brick walls begin corbeling outward at angles to each other. , After about eight feet of corbel, walls turn 45 degrees to continue the corbel outward again. This twisted corbeling was masterfully installed by the masons of the constructor, Rudolph/Libbe Inc.

As the moving sun highlights panels, creates contrasting shadows and shaded areas, the building takes on markedly different appearances during the course of the day. This visual appeal, enhanced by the warmth of masonry, has made the Stranahan Memorial Community services Building a favorite for many Northern Ohioans [over the past thirty years]. The demonstrated durability of the masonry materials promises that area residents can continue to enjoy the building for many years to come.

 
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