Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/780285
When designing the White House, the production team also looked to the decor of the past, particularly for the Oval Office. "We referenced a lot of past presidents," McMullen says. "The drapery in the office was an idea from FDR's administration. All the flags in the room are modeled after Nixon's Oval Office. The color palette and a lot of the textures came from Reagan. The idea to put a pattern on the wall came from President Obama's office with decorator Michael Smith's stripes, which had never been done in the White House before." While there was plenty of historical documentation available for the public and private spaces of the White House, McMullen was able to let his imagination run wild in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC). "The set was designed referencing Stanley Kubrick's war room in Dr. Strangelove," he says. We really wanted that imposing scale with a stark graphic quality to it." One of McMullen's favorite Designated Survivor designs was the undisclosed FBI safe house location where Tom Kirkman (Sutherland) is kept during the State of the Union Address. He was inspired by a Cold War-era bunker and the work of architect Paul Rudolph. "I also pulled images from David Hicks' wallpaper patterns," he says. "We ended up custom printing a run of wallpapers that went on the walls of the FBI set. It was oddly enough very reminiscent of what Stanley Kubrick did in The Shining with the CEILING HEIGHT: 22-'7" GRID HEIGHT: 16'-10" FEET SCALE 20 0 10 10 30 FT WHITE HOUSE RECEPTION ROOM WEST WING ENTRANCE P.E.O.C. MEN'S ROOM PRESIDENTIAL SECRETARY OVAL OFFICE VESTIBULE OVAL OFFICE CHIEF OF STAFF MARINE CHECKPOINT SECURE PHONE BOOTH QUAD SPLIT 1ST POSITION OF ELEVATOR 2nd POSITION OF ELEVATOR W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W "SOUTH" HIGH BRANCHES ABOVE L A W N L A W N L A W N B A C K D R O P B A C K D R O P LARGE TREE WEST COLONNADE STUDY HALLWAY "STUDY" -TBC "PRESIDENT'S DINING ROOM" -TBC ELEVATOR LOBBY P.E.O.C. ELEVATOR "LADIES' ROOM" WEST WING HALLWAY - SOUTH WEST WING HALLWAY - WEST WEST WING HALLWAY - NORTH N/W SECURITY CHECKPOINT EAST HALL "LOBBY" TV TV TV TV TV TV "EEOB" PHOTO DROP S K Y D R O P O R B L A C K S V I D E O W A L L UP UP UP UP UP SUBTERRANEAN COORIDOR P.E.O.C. SECURITY SERVER ROOM CONTROL ROOM LINE OF UPPER CATWALK V I D E O W A L L V I D E O W A L L P.E.O.C. ELEVATOR DESIGNATED SURVIVOR Production Designer: Cabot McMullen set location drawn by scale set no. sheet no. dwg UPDATED MAR 11, 2016 LOOK ONE Right: The completed Oval Office set dressed for the POTUS' address to the nation. Below: A spotting plan of the West Wing sets. After a nonstop two-day planning session with director Paul McGuigan, Mr. McMullen was able to establish camera blocking for all the stage work, including precise wild wall positions. Art Director Mun Ying Kwun drew this plan in AutoCAD. Bottom: The floor pattern detail drawing for the Oval Office set is based on the floor established by President Reagan for his administration. The graphic design work was drawn by Greg Gilmore.