The General Services Administration (GSA) has awarded Corgan Associates, Inc., and its design partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) the design of the new Social Security Administration (SSA) National Support Center (NSC) as part of the Hensel Phelps Design-Build team. Located in Northeast Maryland, the new 280,000-sf office and data center will replace the existing outdated National Computer Center and will house critical computer operations essential to providing prompt and accurate benefit payments to millions of Americans.
The new National Support Center anticipates future technological advancements that will promote the expansion and quality of services provided by the Social Security Administration. Upon completion, it will comply with Mission Critical Criteria from the Uptime Institute, including Tier 3 design certification standards and will provide the infrastructure necessary to support an estimated IT load of 10 megawatts.
The new SSA campus is expected to meet all Federal energy and water conservation goals while achieving LEED Gold Certification from the United States Green Building Council.
The Corgan/SOM design team will achieve energy efficiency through advanced building control systems, climatically responsive layouts, waste reduction principles, natural day-lighting, and solar control, both by building orientation and with solar control devices. Additional, high performance sustainable design permeates the new design with such elements as a six acre array of photovoltaic panels and the recapture of stormwater to assist with cooling and provide potable water throughout the facilities.
The mechanical engineering and plumbing design will be provided by KTA, Southland Mechanical, and MC Dean Electrical, civil engineering and landscape architecture by Timmons Group, and Thornton Tomasetti will provide the structural engineering design for the project. BD+C
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Nov 10, 2016
Prescription for success: Managing technology in the design of healthcare facilities
While the benefits of intelligently deployed technology are abundantly clear to both designers and healthcare end-users, it’s no simple task to manage the integration of technology into a building program.
Industry Research | Nov 4, 2016
New survey exposes achievement gap between men and women designers
Female architects still feel disadvantaged when it comes to career advancement.
Architects | Nov 2, 2016
NCARB launches ARE 5.0
The newest version of the exam required for an architecture license, ARE 5.0, launched on Nov. 1.
Architects | Oct 24, 2016
Winners of the 2016 AAP American Architecture Prize announced
The AAP recognizes the most outstanding architecture worldwide across three disciplines: architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture.
Architects | Oct 21, 2016
A process of analysis and synthesis gives architects and designers the information they need to create
Sometimes people look only for the simple answer and don’t understand that there is a calculated process to get there, writes HDR’s Lynn Mignola.
Architects | Oct 21, 2016
The AIA Innovation Award Recipients have been selected
The program honors projects that highlight collaboration between design and construction teams to create better process efficiencies and overall costs savings.
Architects | Oct 21, 2016
NASA Orbit Pavilion to debut at The Huntington Library at the end of October
The pavilion uses sound to represent the movement of the International Space Station and 19 earth satellites.
Higher Education | Oct 20, 2016
Designing innovative campuses for tomorrow's students
Planning for places that foster effective innovation is still an emerging process, but the constant pressure on universities to do so continues from two of their key institutional constituencies—students and employers, writes Perkins+Will's Ken Higa and Josh Vel.
Data Centers | Oct 14, 2016
Where data centers meet design
As technology continues to evolve, we have to simultaneously adapt and help our clients think beyond the short term, writes Gensler's Martin Gollwitzer.
Architects | Oct 13, 2016
Dallas architects recognized at 2016 AIA Dallas Built Design Awards
Six Texas-based projects lauded for design excellence.