DBIA IQ Summer 2012 - (Page 8)

feDerAL//stAte of the sector The parking structures of the vast BRAC-133/Mark Center project, which will consolidate dozens of federal agencies into one complex, offer 3,098 spaces. complicated Logistics, extraordinary coordination DESIGn-BuILD BrInGS a vaSt, coMpLIcatED DEpartMEnt of DEfEnSE projEct to fruItIon unDEr BuDGEt anD ahEaD of SchEDuLE. By jim Whitaker, aIa, DBIa, principal, hKS, Inc., and jeff vandersall, aIa, LEED ap, principal, hKS, Inc. the LAtest offIce complex for the Department of Defense (DoD) is huge. Opened in September 2011 in Alexandria, Va., the $953 million facility encompasses 1.8 million square feet and is set to house more than 26 government agencies and 170 subagencies. But what’s more incredible than its size is that the massive project was completed more than six weeks ahead of a foreshortened schedule and more than $50 million under budget thanks to a developer-led design-build process. “The project team faced a steep challenge: Design, construct and deliver nearly 2 million square feet of secure office space for Department of Defense agencies in 33 months,” says Jeff Vandersall, principal of HKS Architects, Inc. “The project was given the same fixed completion date of Sept. 15, 2011, although it was the last of the “mega” DoD Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) projects to be awarded. It was awarded more than a year after other BRAC projects.” The Mark Center complex is part of a 350-acre, mixed-use campus at the southwest intersection of I-395 and Seminary Road, just four miles from the Pentagon. The facility itself sits on a 16-acre secure site and is comprised of two multistory (15 and 17) towers, two parking garages with 3,098 spaces, a visitor center, a remote inspection facility and a public transportation center that serves Mark Center and the surrounding community. The complex will be home to more than 6,400 workers. They include personnel associated with the multiple DoD agencies that currently occupy leased space throughout the nation’s capital and surrounding region, such as Washington Headquarters Services (WHS), BRAC’s executive agent for DoD customers. The project implements 8 summer//2012 the quarterly publication of the design-build institute of america photo courtesy of Blake Marvin/hKS, Inc.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DBIA IQ Summer 2012

DBIA IQ Summer 2012