Disney Dedicates Frank G. Wells Building

Business Wire, Oct 16, 1998

BURBANK, Calif--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 1998--Luanne Wells, widow of the late Frank G. Wells, former president of The Walt Disney Company, Friday joined Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael D. Eisner in dedicating a new office and production building named in honor of the former Disney leader who died in a helicopter crash in 1994.

The dedication was held in conjunction with Disney's 75th Anniversary Celebration at which Disney Legends Awards were presented to 19 people who made major contributions to the company's success.

"Those who knew Frank well would describe him as 'elegant, intelligent, friendly, thoughtful and practical,'" said Eisner. "These are the attributes that are embodied in this building we dedicate today."

Designed by world-renowned architect Robert Venturi, the five-story Frank G. Wells building is located at the northwest corner of the Disney Studios lot and currently houses The Walt Disney Company Archives, the Touchstone Casting Department, TV Animation, TV Production, New Technology, The Disney University and Features Production units. Additional amenities include a 112-seat screening room, a conference center and the studio's mail room facility.

The building is readily recognizable by its huge film reel pattern on the facade. The principal building material is stucco. The pattern is executed in porcelain.

The designer's purpose was to create an adaptable general-purpose modern building known to architects as a "generic loft." A conscious effort was made to ensure that the facility would fit with its surroundings. The building has a spacious, open interior design and lends itself flexibly to the demands of a modern motion picture studio.

An inner courtyard provides natural light for work spaces on the inside of the building. The building's power plant adds two new cooling towers to existing studio systems, with a chiller increase of 1300 tons.

The building has a usable area of 240,518 square feet with three underground parking levels, accommodating 600 parking spaces. The construction was completed in two phases: phase I in August 1997 and phase II in July 1998.