Completion Date:     6/19/2014

Square Footage:      210000

Building Use:           The building accommodates program management and engineering teams, as well as integration laboratories, for the design of manned, military aircraft systems.

Location:                 Melbourne, FL

Project Description:

In March 2013, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems announced the creation of five Centers of Excellence around the United States. The announcement initiated a series of organizational consolidations and changes, as well as a number of facilities projects at each location.

Key within these projects was the relocation of the E-2/C-2 Program and functional support organizations from Bethpage, NY, to Melbourne, FL. This relocation would involve hundreds of positions and significant investment in specialized lab equipment.

By construction industry benchmarks, the new facility project would be a three-year planning, design, engineering and construction effort that would need to be implemented in just over one year.

With two years to be taken out of the schedule, normally sequenced activities would need to be overlapped, with decisions made on an as needed basis to support a rapid start on construction. Construction was going to have to be significantly accelerated.

Architectural planning and design began concurrently in late April 2013 and in early May, structural engineering was underway for Building 228 – Northrop Grumman’s newest program, engineering and lab building. Architectural design development and MEP engineering followed structural only days behind. Construction began in the third week of August, with the first structural steel in the air in October.

Just 14 fast-paced months after the first marker went to paper, the project achieved a mid-June 2014 beneficial occupancy.

Building 228 is designed to accommodate both program and engineering offices, as well as advanced labs for the design and support of military aircraft. With an anticipated 50-plus year building life, and changing program assignments, the facility affords a high degree of internal flexibility, capacity and security.

Internal flexibility is provided by three large floor plates and the location of building support cores at the building perimeter, rather than at the center of the floors. Lab and a significant portion of the office areas are located on access flooring to facilitate utility delivery and spatial reconfiguration. Partitions are located on-module to minimize disruption in future reconfigurations. The facility responds to capacity needs by means of utility delivery to meet both current and anticipated future requirements for power and cooling loads.

Security is viewed from two perspectives – physical access to and within the building, and protecting the building, its occupants and sophisticated equipment from the potentially harsh Florida hurricanes and flooding.

The design reinforces the horizontal nature of the building mass. Both architectural and functional elements are employed to achieve this result and include a rhythm of architectural precast concrete and fenestration with horizontal lights and sunshades. Architectural precast panels run laterally and are designed with strong horizontal reveals and decorative metal banding to emphasize the horizontality. Windows utilize a heavily-tinted blue glazing. Concrete panels omit glazing altogether in areas of highest security and instead utilize a ribbed pattern design. A prominent roof feature is the specialized aircraft equipment enclosure, which shields equipment visually and functionally. A three story lobby provides views to the airport runways and adjacent campus buildings.

C.O.T.E. | Committee on the Environment

Download