Missile Defense Agency | WDG: Architecture, Planning, Interiors

Army Test and Evaluation Command Headquarters Aberdeen, MD	US Army Corps of Engineers	Completed 2011	Three-story headquarters building totaling 142,000-sf with large ceremonial central atrium.
CDC Bureau of Health Statistics Hyattsville, MD	Centers for Disease Control	Completed 2003	200,000 sf, 7-stories, government build-to-suit.
City of Grapevine Visitors Complex Grapevine, TX	City of Grapevine		Two-story, 40,000-sf visitors center for historic small town center.
DISA Bailey's Crossroads, VA	Defense Information Systems Agency	Completed 2002	Five-story, build-to-suit headquarters totaling 374,248-sf.
FDIC Arlington, VA	Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation	Completed 1992	470,000-sf headquarters operations and training center.
HHMI Janelia Farms Apartments Ashburn, VA	Howard Hughes Medical Institute \| Photos © Maxwell MacKenzie	Completed 2011	Four-story, 81,852-sf, 60-unit apartment building for visiting research scientists.
International Monetary Fund HQ II Washington, DC	International Monetary Fund	Completed 2005	12-story headquarters office building totaling 650,000-sf.
Japan Information and Culture Center Washington, DC	Japanese Embassy of the United States	Completed 2011	Design of 7,500-sf cultural center and auditorium.
Missile Defense Agency Ft. Belvoir, VA	US Army Corps of Engineers	Completed 2011	3-stories, 99,000-sf for 300 military personnel on 10.9 acres with 230-car surface parking.
Sallie Mae Reston, VA	Sallie Mae	Completed 2004	4.65 acres, 9-stories, 240,000 sf, build-to-suite headquarters and conference facility.
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Administrative Headquarters Washington, DC	General Services Administration		Fit-out of a 40,000-sf administrative office space.
US Coast Guard Headquarters Washington, DC	General Services Administration	In Progress	31-acre, 1,179,500-sf headquarters building for the US Coast Guard.

Missile Defense Agency

Ft. Belvoir, VA

CLIENT
US Army Corps of Engineers

STATUS
Completed 2011

LEED
Certified LEED-NC Silver

SERVICES
Architecture, Interiors

PROJECT DETAILS

PROJECT SHEET

FOLIO

Add to Folio View Folio

Program

3-stories, 99,000-sf for 300 military personnel on 10.9 acres with 230-car surface parking.

Description

WDG designed the Department of Defense new Missile Defense Agency Headquarters in a design-build partnership. The design juxtaposes two architectural vocabularies to address unique functional and contextual considerations. The employee entry faces north toward the primary vehicular access. The modern architecture utilizes a sweeping two-story “randomized," curved curtain wall, interrupted by a glass and metal entrance tower.

A second south-facing ceremonial entrance has a neoclassical expression featuring a pediment topped “temple front” that was mandated to ensure compatibility with the existing historic building assemblage on the base’s parade grounds. The two architectural styles are skillfully separated by glazed stair towers along each side facade.

Accessed through a double height glazed entry foyer, the first floor provides access control spaces, security functions and administrative staff areas. This floor also includes private and open office spaces and their support areas, including conference rooms, business centers, and break areas. A ceremonial stair within the defining interior architectural element of the building, a dramatic, sky lit two-story atrium, provides access to the director’s and command suites on the second floor. A basement level houses mechanical space, building services, computer operation, and SCIF facilities.

The Army design criteria required 10 meters (33 feet) unobstructed space and a 25-meter (82-foot) standoff distance from the building, which was achieved with a 2-foot high retaining wall, bollards, manual bollards, and drop arm vehicle barriers.