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The fine equilibrium and pleasing proportions, from every viewpoint, of the Engineering Staff Office Building, focal point of the group, are based on a module of 5 feet 2 inches on centers—-a module derived, curiously enough, from the length of a fluorescent lighting fixture. On this module, masterly ceiling treatment provides at every 5 feet 2 inches an outlet alternatively for lighting fixture, sprinkler, air-conditioning nozzle, or movable-partition attachment.
     Equally striking are the long, facing curtain walls, composed of double-pane windows, employing a new, exterior, blue-green, heat-absorbing glass, set in revolutionary, light, two-inch wall panels formed by bonding porcelain-enameled metal sheets to a plastic-paper honeycomb core. The brilliantly colored end walls employ another innovation—-a ceramic-glazed, sand-molded, Ohio shale brick, capable of taking high color. The brick was manufactured specially for this project, G.M. bearing the cost of building special kilns to operate at the requisite temperature.

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Office reception room with Saarinen-designed furniture

Shop interior and tunnel to Dynamometer Building
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