Schwartz/Silver was one of four American architecture firms to participate in an invited design competition for a new visitors’ center at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House. The design of Martin House is so seamless that the entire site seems to exist in its own space and time. So the task of creating a new visitors’ center was one of connecting the world of the visitor to the world created by Wright for Darwin D. Martin.

Instead of being a competing structure, the visitors’ center is made a component of the landscape, like a small pavilion. Given the size of the program, this was an obvious challenge. However, by accommodating program at or below grade, the center could be organized so as to heighten the visitor experience of Wright’s architecture.