Another gem from an early 1960s book on the design of restaurants, bars and motels, this time from architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Not many mentions of this project on the internet, and I can’t find any other pictures. The only additional information I was able to find is that it was designed for Bramlett Enterprises- Memphis, TN – in 1956.
Although designed as a stopover for motorists who have temporarily tired of the open road, this conception has none of the characteristics of motels anywhere. It seems destined to remain a project if only because it is so luxurious in some respects, so severe in others. The scheme is built around three separate elevator groups of three elevators each. A single cluster of elevators serves seven floors in addition to a terrace restaurant under the roof of each unit. the restaurant is interconnected by the bridges shown in the perspective. One elevator functions for two rooms per floor giving a grand total of fourteen rooms per elevator. The rooms attained by means of this generous outlay of mechanical equipment are small.
This building shares a principle in common with Wright’s other towers, the “interior” system of structure in which the floors are cantilevered from a steel and lightweight concrete core, tripod shaped for stability.
Diner Hunter 