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Leo A Daly designs Maryland campus to help US intelligence agencies communicate better
Architect Leo A Daly has overhauled an office complex just outside of Washington DC, creating a verdant campus that aims to foster cooperation among 16 American intelligence agencies.
Daly's firm upgraded a 1940s office campus in the city of Bethesda, Maryland, seven miles (11 kilometres) northwest of the US capital, to create the Intelligence Community Campus.
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The project involved overhauling the landscaping, renovating existing facilities and constructing two new structures – a parking garage and a central hub, called the Centrum Building.
The campus embodies a new approach to intelligence sharing that emerged after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The approach was spurred by a report produced by a special 9/11 commission, which recommended more cooperation among intelligence-gathering agencies.
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"Responding to the 9/11 Commission Report’s call for increased collaboration among intelligence-gathering services, the $300 million, state-of-the-art headquarters provides a centralised hub for knowledge sharing among the 16 intelligence agencies housed there," said the team.
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At the heart of the campus is the Centrum Building, which encompasses 220,000 square feet (20,438 square metres). Clad in glass and red-hued metal panels, the Z-shaped building links three existing structures and "serves as the vertebra of the campus".
"Rather than a single, monolithic building, the design suggests the notion of campus as field, connecting and organising an assemblage of interior and exterior space," the studio said.
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The existing facilities were also wrapped in glass and coloured panels – a strategy that helps achieve a cohesive and non-institutional aesthetic.
"Rhythmic patterns of mirror-like glass evoke the forested surroundings and break up the buildings' massing, while a dappled skin of matte metal panels creates a sense of translucency, playing on the idea of natural camouflage," the team said.
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The buildings contain a range of open, light-filled workspaces, and more secure areas for training and exchanging sensitive data. Interior spaces are designed to encourage collaboration, and can quickly adapt to changing needs.
"Workspaces closer resemble a leading high-tech creative company than the typical government office," the team said.
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Providing connections to the natural surroundings was a guiding concern for the design team. Workers can dine on an outdoor terrace or take breaks in a 14,000-square-foot (1,300-square-metre) plaza.
In order to create a park-like environment, the team removed 20 acres (eight hectares) worth of surface parking and built a more compact six-storey car park instead.
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The site features small bioretention areas and a 30,000-gallon (113,560 litres) cistern, which help manage rainwater. Green roofs and six solar arrays further help the building achieve sustainability goals.
The campus is "on the path to achieving net-zero use", the team said.
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The project recently won a building team award from Building Design + Construction, given to projects that exemplify collaboration between owners, architects, engineers and contractors.
Other recently completed government buildings in the US include a metal-skinned cube in New York by SOM that houses an emergency call centre.
Project credits:
Design architect: Leo A Daly
Owner: US Defense Intelligence Agency
Architects and engineers of record: AECOM, EwingCole
Interior architect: DBI Architects
Landscape architect: Oehme van Sweden, Wiley Wilson
Program manager: Markon Solutions
Design-build contractor: Whiting-Turner Contracting Co