Collin Gozick | Construction
Advisor: Ray Sowers
The National Museum of the US Army
Fort Belvoir, VA
Building Statistics
General Building Data
Building Name:
Location:
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Owner:
Occupancy/Function:
Construction Duration:
Building Height:
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Number of Above Grade Levels:
Total Number of Levels
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Project Delivery Method:
The National Museum of the US Army
Fort Belvoir, VA
84 Acres
The Army Historical Foundation
Museum/Memorial
Feb 2017- Apr 2019
95 ft
185,000 SF
5
6
$111 Million
Design-Build
project Team
Owner
Architect
General Contractor
Structural Engineers
Mechanical/ Plumbing Engineers
Electrical Engineers
Civil Engineers
Landscape Architects
Architecture
The National Museum of the US Army is comprised of a modern style of architecture. The building consists of museum exhibit space with interactive areas, along with office spaces for the owner on the upper floors, and feature rooftop terraces for outdoor space. The building is split into two sections, an exhibit hall wing and a pavilion section. The exhibit hall wing is an expansive space with interactive areas for visitors to explore our military’s history and features an IMAX theater. A spacious two-story lobby connects the exhibit wing with the pavilion section which is divided into three pavilions (P1,P2,P3) connected by long corridors extending the length the spaces . Office space, a café, retail space, along with more exhibits make up the pavilion areas.
Building Codes
The following model codes are used on the National Museum of the US Army:
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IBC 2009
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ICC 2009 (Plumbing, Mechanical, Energy, Fuel Gas)
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NFPA 101: Life Safety Code 2012
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Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC)- Army Regulations
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Virginia (VDOT) and other state standards
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Other various codes and regulations
Zoning
Zoning is not applicable for this project due to the project being located on a military base and the land was granted by the US Army.
Historical Requirements
There are no historical requirements that are needed for this project.
Building Enclosure
Facade
The façade of the building is made up of a combination of stainless steel metal panels and glass curtain wall. This system encloses the entire building and is approximately 80 % panel, 20% curtain wall.
Stainless Steel Metal Panels
The stainless steel metal panel façade is comprised of:
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Exterior Sheathing
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Flashing
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Blocking
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Unfaced Blanket Batt Insulation
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Semi-Rigid Board Mineral Wool Insulation
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Spray On Water Proofing System
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Exterior Stainless Steel Metal Panel (MP-01)
Glass Curtain Wall
The glass curtain wall facade is comprised of:
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Reflective Low Iron Vision Glass
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Metal Paint
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Silicone Rubber Sealant
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Silicone Structural Glazing Sealant
Roof
There are four different types of roofing used in this project:
Hot Fluid Applied Roofing System (RS 01)
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This roofing system is made of a fabric reinforced rubberized asphalt. It is used specifically on the garden roof system, which includes a root barrier, soil substrate, and drainage mat and is meant to withstand conditions associated with the green roof system
Modified Bituminous Roofing System (RS 02)
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SBS Modified Bituminous Membranes are formed with asphalt sheets that are backed up by board insulation and are applied in two-ply to withstand the environment and prevent water intruding into the interior
Standing Seam Roofing (RS 03)
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This system is a preformed metal pan system with interlocking joints for adjacent sheets to provide watertight installation
TPO Roofing System (RS 04)
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TPO consists of a single ply TPO membrane sheet with thermoplastic polyolefin with according adhesives, fasteners, and sealants to provide a watertight roof
Sustainability
For sustainability features, the museum is including green roof planters to provide vegetation in public spaces on their rooftop terraces and is using regionally produced materials. The museum project is following typical procedures to achieve LEED Silver status for the building.
Building Stats Pt 2
Primary Engineering Systems
Construction
The National Museum of the US Army is being constructed in Fort Belvoir, VA. Construction started in February 2017 and is expected to reach substantial completion in April 2019. The owner, The Army Historical Foundation, chose Clark Construction as the general contractor on the project, with MC Dean and Southland Industries as the electrical and mechanical/plumbing contractors, respectively. The delivery method for the project is a “hybrid” design-build type. Preconstruction services took nearly six months to complete before construction commenced and utilizes a GMP contract with the owner.
Below grade construction took nearly four months to complete and structural steel started erection in June 2017. The superstructure took roughly six months to complete with all steel erected by the end of 2017. MEP work was started in January 2018 and was completed in September 2018. The exhibit hall of the museum is expected to be turned over to exhibit contractors in late September, with the rest of the structure still building out the interior during that time. Substantial completion is expected for April 2019.
Electrical/Lighting
Dominion Virginia is the power supplier for the museum who provided their own generator and transformer in the museum’s mechanical yard. From the mechanical yard, power is brought into the building underground to a main switchgear with an additional emergency switchgear located in the electrical room in the basement. Power is then distributed throughout the rest of the structure with panelboards being 3-phase 120/208 V. Each floor houses its own electrical room.
Mechanical
Throughout the museum, different means of heating and cooling the building are used depending on location.
In the lobby and exhibit spaces, heating is provided through in-slab radiant pex tubing that circulates water at 100 degrees Fahrenheit. There are 20.25 miles of pex tubing found in these slabs and maintains the spaces it serves at a comfortable range of 71-75 degrees Fahrenheit. Dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS) are used in the exhibit hall and lobby with variable air volume (VAV) boxes and fan coil units to deliver air to the vast spaces. The IMAX theater, located in the exhibit hall, has its own air handler. For the remainder of the museum, DOAS units are used to ventilate spaces, with larger spaces such the art gallery exhibit and veterans hall having individual air handling units.
Domestic chilled water is provided through air cooled chiller units located in a mechanical yard in the rear of the museum and three boilers located in the basement’s boiler room provide hot water. Main mechanical rooms, along with the boiler and chiller rooms, are found in the basement of the building. There are additional mechanical rooms located on the second and fourth floors.
Structural
The Army museum is comprised of a structural system that is unlike many buildings in the Washington DC area. While many local buildings choose to use cast in place concrete, a structural steel superstructure with a composite metal deck with concrete topping is used on the museum. W-shapes make up a large percentage of the structural steel members and moment connections are the primary way of connecting members.
The foundation of the structure is comprised of strip and spread footings with reinforced concrete columns, floor framing and basement walls with the ground floor being supported by concrete beams. Masonry walls make up many of the interior walls of the walls of the basement walls and are connected through standard dovetail anchors with construction made feasible through use of scaffolding.
As far as lateral systems, the main museum building is a braced frame system in one direction and a moment frame system in the other. The lateral system for the exhibit hall wing of the museum is made up of a steel rod cross-braced frame along the perimeter of the structure. Two mobile cranes were utilized on-site during erection of structural steel and placement of concrete.
Cast in place concrete was used for slab-on-grade concrete and for the composite metal deck on each floor of the museum. Standard concrete forms were used for placed concrete in the horizontal direction and plywood forms were used for any concrete poured in the vertical direction during construction. Placement methods include using a spider arm concrete boom and pump truck to pour concrete onto floors above ground level. A smaller number of pours were made possible by means of concrete bucket and crane.
Additional Engineering Systems
Fire Protection
Fire protection is provided through a wet pipe sprinkler system with the aid of fire booster pumps located in the basement. This wet pipe sprinkler system is found throughout the building with risers in stairwells of the building to vertically transport water to the various branches of the system. This provides coverage to ensure that the National Museum of the US Army is a safe facility for the public.
Transportation
Two elevators for public use are found in the south end of the lobby that are accessible to all floors, including the basement of the building. Otis elevators is the subcontractor on the project in charge of installing the transportation systems. A third, much larger, freight elevator is found near the two public elevators and will be used to move large amounts of weight by employees to all floors of the museum.
Telecommunications
Telecommunication lines are ran vastly throughout the building to provide visual, audio, and internet connection to all employees and the public. Telecommunication rooms can be found in the basement, with smaller telecommunication room found in on each floor of the building. Wi-Fi hubs, various types of speakers, and visual screens are found throughout the building and the telecommunication system helps connect the entire building together.