Intelligence Design

by Jonathan McGaha | July 31, 2013 12:00 am

Located on a rolling, wooded site in Fort Belvoir, Va., the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency[1] (NGA) is the nation’s primary source of geospatial intelligence for the Department of Defense. As part of the November 9, 2005 Base Realignment and Closure legislation, NGA elected to design and build a purpose-built facility to consolidate their far-flung professional staff, advance their mission, provide the flexibility needed for a changing, tech-intense workforce, and create an exemplar project for sustainable design and construction within the public sector. The $1.4 billion, 2.4 million-square-foot NGA/Campus East Facility (NCE) consolidates six Washington-area sites and accommodates 8,500 professionals in a modern, technology-rich workplace.

The NCE’s design was driven by a cultural transformation mandate to meet future mission goals, along with significant requirements for sustainability, reliability, flexibility and expandability-all constrained by stringent national security criteria. A main office building, technology center, visitor control center and remote inspection facility are all housed on the 130-acre site. Support facilities include structured and surface parking for 5,100 vehicles, a central utility plant (CUP) and three access control points. Connecting roads, bridges, utility infrastructure, landscape and hardscape were all part of the site infrastructure improvements.

Guiding Principles

NGA provides geospatial intelligence, conducting the collection and analysis of imagery and geospatial information that describes, assesses, and visually depicts physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth. The act of NGA observing the Earth’s surface from above was a guiding principle for the building design, which is rooted in the agency’s motto of “Know the Earth, show the way.”

The main office building is composed of two curved, overlapping office bars that define a large central atrium and form the shape of an eye. According to Timothy J. Hutcheson, AIA, LEED AP, CDT, CCCA, vice president at RTKL, the design team developed a concept based on the “terrestrial” meeting the “celestial.” “NGA uses their assets to develop an understanding of the earth and man-made improvements on it,” says Hutcheson. “Traditionally this information has come from maps, aerial reconnaissance and satellites. The act of NGA looking down on the earth has become a metaphor for the building design, which is the reason why we chose a metal as the primary cladding element.”

Hutcheson explains that the building’s base is an extension of the landscape and represents the earth. “The lower levels are built into a base that reflects the strata and contours of the natural landform,” he says. “The ‘strata’ materials are heavier, rougher and warmer in character.” The terrestrial base houses the more public functions, food venues and support spaces, and are areas where NGA interacts with visitors and outside entities.

“The upper portion of the building is more futuristic, with V columns that are intended to impart a feeling of lightness to the way the building touches the terrestrial base,” Hutcheson adds. “This allows the majority of the building to hover over the earth with precast façade divided into triangles reinforcing a celestial language.” The 51 two-story V columns are clad with aluminum composite material (ACM) panels modeled using Revit. Hutcheson notes they were designed to make the larger internal steel column appear slender, while resembling space-age landing gear.

Sustainable Strategies

The largest LEED Gold certified federal building in the world, NCE is a model of proven sustainable strategies. It features green roofs, rapidly renewable materials, access to natural light, low-emitting products, improved thermal control and high-performance lighting, while also showcasing technologies that are only just beginning to emerge in the United States. “The use of a chilled beam HVAC system and an ethylene tetrafluoroethylene
(ETFE) skylight system-similar to the so-called Water Cube at the Beijing Olympics-over a central atrium, for example, are truly leading-edge technologies that have brought solid performance and value,” Hutcheson notes.

Additionally, the NCE achieves regulated energy savings of 45 percent compared with the baseline prescribed by ASHRAE 90.1-2004. It also received three LEED optimized energy performance points with 18 percent energy cost savings.

The project’s stormwater management system collects rainwater in a detention pond, treats it and reuses it for 100 percent of the irrigation needs, says Hutcheson, while the balance of stored stormwater is used for the cooling tower make-up water and emergency sprinkler water. The selected indoor plumbing fixtures save more than 8 million gallons of water a year, which is nearly a 45 percent reduction. Additional landscaping includes drought-tolerant species that rely on an efficient rainwater collection and re-use system, saving 2.5 million gallons of water a month during the peak season. More than 1,700 trees were planted on-site, and a 28,000-square-foot green roof minimizes visual

impact and supports the stormwater management. RTKL developed and maintained an energy model that was used as a living tool for evaluating and tracking evolving energy initiatives and operational conditions throughout the life of the project. “In addition to the optimization of energy performance, the project’s sustainable aspirations and LEED credit achievements include the use of products and materials that minimize ozone depletion and global warming potentials and optimize the use of readily renewable resources; the promotion of clean, healthy indoor environments,” Hutcheson explains.

One Team, One Goal

The NCE was named the 2012 New Construction Project of the Year by the USGBC[2] and received a 2013 IDEAS2 award[3] from the American Institute of Steel Construction[4] (AISC). The project was accomplished through a highly collaborative, fully integrated team, as an approach that stands to become an example for successful federal project delivery through partnering.

Ten project partners aligned to accomplish the one goal of ensuring national security through fast track, phased delivery of a secure, sustainable workplace. Known as One Team, the project’s core team included client representatives from NGA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, RTKL/KlingStubbins as architects/engineers, and Clark/Balfour Beatty, as the contractor.

The multidisciplinary design team, made up of more than 700 professionals spread across multiple offices, met the challenge of creating a building where, for the first time since NGA was formed, all of its key departments are located in a single building. That consolidation was viewed as an opportunity to evolve the organization’s culture into a unified, collaborative and mission-focused environment.

 

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va.
Architects/engineers: RTKL/KlingStubbins, a joint venture between RTKL Associates Inc.[5], Washington, D.C., and KlingStubbins[6], Philadelphia
General contractor: Clark/Balfour Beatty, a joint venture between Clark Construction Group[7], Bethesda, Md., and
Balfour Beatty[8], Fairfax, Va.
Engineer: United States Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C.
Facade contractor: Enclos[9], New York City
Aluminum composite metal panels: Alcoa Architectural Products, Eastman, Ga., www.alcoaarchitecturalproducts.com[10]

Concealed fastener metal siding: Firestone Metal Products Inc., Anoka, Minn., www.firestonemetal.com[11]
Exposed fastener corrugated metal siding: Morin Corp., a Kingspan company, Bristol, Conn., www.morincorp.com[12]
Insulated metal panels: Kingspan Insulated Metal Panels, Deland, Fla., www.kingspanpanels.us[13]
Louvers: Construction Specialties Inc., Cranford, N.J., www.c-sgroup.com[14]; and Reliable Products Inc., Geneva, Ala., www.reliablelouvers.com[15]
Planted metal screenwalls: greenscreen, Los Angeles, www.greenscreen.com[16]
Standing seam roof and wall panels: Petersen Aluminum Corp., Elk Grove Village, Ill., www.pac-clad.com[17]; and Morin Corp., Bristol, Conn., www.morincorp.com[12]

Photos: From top, 1-3: ©2011 RTKL.COM/James West. Last photo: ©2011 RTKL.COM/Paul Warchol

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/intelligence-design/

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