Project completion of BRAC 132, Office of the Chief Army Reserve Building, Ft. Belvoir, Va.

Hensel Phelps Construction Co. (Hensel Phelps) recently completed the BRAC 132 -Office of the Chief Army Reserve (OCAR) Building at Fort Belvoir, Va.

As a result of the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission’s (BRAC) Recommendations, OCAR operations moved from Arlington, Va. to their new facility at Fort Belvoir, Va.

The Chief, Army Reserve (CAR) is responsible for plans, policies and programs affecting all Army Reserve Soldiers, including those who report directly to the Army. OCAR is comprised of specialized groups that advise and support the CAR on a wide variety of issues.

Despite the aggressive twelve (12) month schedule the Hensel Phelps team achieved the Certificate of Occupancy on budget and ahead of schedule. As a result of Hensel Phelps exemplary safety culture the project was completed with over 95,000 manhours with zero lost time incidences, earning two (2) safety accolades from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer.

This fast-tracked, design-build project consists of a three-story, 88,470 sf administrative command building housing approximately 430 employees. The OCAR facility was designed to adhere to the Fort Belvoir Master Campus Plan and features precast panels with a light sandblasted limestone-like finish and embedded brick veneer.

Hensel Phelps, as the design-builder, was teamed with Fentress Architects as the Architect of Record, as well as Draper Aden Associates for civil engineering. The project scope included administrative space, an emergency operations center, sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), secure and non-secure conference rooms, video teleconference centers, data processing center, General Officer/senior executive service office suites, storage, and administrative support areas, site work, core and shell, and interior tenant planning.

The OCAR Project is registered as a LEED-NC v2.2 Silver Certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. BD+C

Managing a team of people, especially creative people, is a task that not everyone is up for. Keeping your team on the same page while maintaining a schedule and budget that can keep your corporation happy will take confidence and bountiful people skills. Here are some tips for effectively managing a project. SPONSORED CONTENT

Fire-rated glass floor system study area. Photo: courtesy TGP

Fire-rated glass floor system captures light in science and engineering infill

In implementing Northwestern University’s Engineering Life Sciences infill design, Flad Architects faced the challenge of ensuring adequate, balanced light given the adjacent, existing building wings. To allow for light penetration from the fifth floor to the ground floor, the design team desired a large, central atrium. One potential setback with drawing light through the atrium was meeting fire and life safety codes.