Government

State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) will begin building a new 267,300-sf San Francisco facility in 2003. Expanding the worker's compensation insurer's Market Street headquarters, the 11-story, 170-ft-tall building will be connected to SCIF's existing 350,000-sf facility by a pedestrian bridge. The $82-million project will accommodate 800 employees and will enable the state-owned agency to consolidate its existing 2,100 employees as well as allowing for future growth.

The Food and Drug Administration has contracted Sempra Energy Solutions to construct a central utility plant at its 2.3 million-sf Silver Spring, Md. administration campus. The plant will use renewable energy by incorporating the use of photovoltaic panels, as well as efficient combined heat and power technology. Sempra's $98 million services contract includes supplying electricity as well as the heating and cooling infrastructure for the campus.

The General Services Administration's National Capital Region has selected architectural/engineering firm HNTB to design the $81.7-million renovation of the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building in Washington.

The City of Jacksonville selected Boston-based Cannon Design to design its $211-million, 1-million-sf county courthouse complex. Cannon provided planning, programming and design services for the project, which included conversion of the old federal courthouse in addition to the new complex.

The General Services Administration has awarded AI the interior design contract for the Department of Transportation's new 1.4-million-sf Southeast Federal Center headquarters. Based on designs by Gensler, the headquarters will be constructed on a 55-acre site along the Anacostia River.  

The Universityof Idaho is leading the development of Idaho Place in downtown Boise. Consolidating the University of Idaho’s and Idaho State University’s many existing Boise programs, the mixed-use center may also include other higher education institutions that have been invited to participate. The combined educational, retail, and residential center will be sited on an approximately 10-acre parcel and will provide opportunities for business, industry, and government to collaborate in research and public service.

Rockville, Md.-based BAE Systems has completed its six-story, 211,000-sf office and engineering facility in Rancho Bernardo, Calif. Designed by Turpit & Potter Architects, the facility is accompanied by a five-story, 340,000-sf parking structure. The $26-million expansion project was built by San Diego contractor Harper Construction. BAE's Technology Drive Campus now totals over 757,000-sf.

The 22,000-sf Regional Firearms Training Facility was recently completed in Otay Mesa for the Countyof San Diego. The center, completed by San Diego-based JVB Construction Management,  houses administrative offices, five classrooms, and a 350-seat auditorium.

Microsoft has dedicated its first facility in Northern Virginia, the $25-million Innovation & Technology Center. Located at Reston Town Center, the four-story, 63,000-sf facility can accommodate 1000 employees and includes 25 conference rooms, a technology lab, a government solutions center, and offices for over 100 Microsoft workers. The center will eventually house an executive briefing center and secured facilities for classified meetings with intelligence agencies.

The Department of Defense has awarded Bates Engineers/Contractors Inc. the $8.7-million contract to build a four-bay, 55,000-sf maintenance hangar at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. The project will include a squadron operations center.

The Department of Defense has selected the Waynesboro office of GSC Construction Inc. to construct a $21-million hazardous training facility for the FBI. The facility will be located at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.

The University of Texas at San Antonio has leased 8,000 sf in Brooks Building 175 at Brooks Air Force Base to house a vaccine research training facility. Preparing molecular biologists, fermentation technicians, and genetic engineers to conduct vaccine-related research, the facility is slated to open by fall of 2003. The training center will accommodate both UTSA and military graduate and undergraduate students. City officials hope that the training facility will cause San Antonio to be chosen as the site of a proposed $1.5-billion national vaccine center.

The new 2,300,000-sf headquarters of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is under construction. Located on eight acres in Alexandria, the facility consists of five 10-story buildings in a U-shaped complex, with a total of 3,800 parking spaces in two garages. Designed by architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the headquarters features a pedestrian accessible 10-story atrium connecting the two wings of Building A, with all five buildings linked via underground walkways.

The City of Woodland is preparing to begin construction on a new $10.7-million police headquarters facility in January 2003. Upon completion in February 2004, the design-build project is expected to be one of the nation's first police facilities certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is building a $141-million Class A federal building in San Francisco. Designed by Morphosis of Santa Monica, Calif., the 600,000-sf project is comprised of a hybrid two-building set, an 18-story glass tower connected via a 3,000-sf plaza-level cafeteria to an adjacent four-story, 100,000-sf building. The tower is 65 feet wide, allowing natural light to enter on both sides, and features a stainless steel screen that acts as a natural circulation engine on the building's south side.