USDA Modernizes Ames Research Facilities

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has contracted Flad & Associates to provide design services for the Ames Modernization Program, a five-year, $430-million upgrade of the USDA animal disease research facilities on a 480-acre site in Ames, Iowa.The total project is phased and includes program development and design services for a new large animal housing facility, including a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE) wing, designed to BSL-2 plus containment standards.The program, which will rebuild and centralize multiple laboratory and research centers, has been given the highest priority by the federal government to protect the nation's food supply. Sustainability will be fundamental to the design approach for all facilities. The program will include renovation and addition to host three key functions in two USDAagencies:  National Veterinary Services Laboratories (the lab was the first to isolate the West Nile Virus in the western hemisphere); Center of Veterinary Biologics; and National Animal Disease Center.This project presents the challenge of meeting the needs for two different agencies: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Agriculture Research Service (ARS). The USDA has expressed a desire to have animal facilities available "on demand" for any staff from these two groups needing space, in the same way that hotel rooms are designed to be available on demand.  Flexible research space will be designed that is suitable for the current needs of both groups, as well for the yet unforeseen needs that may arise in the future.