Structural and blast engineering for 3-wing complex housing 1,100 employees. Atrium, multi-tiered curtain wall, pedestrian bridges, 200 parking spaces. 400,000 sf.

Weidlinger Associates was the structural and blast engineer for a new federal office complex consisting of two eight-story rectangular structures and one six-story crescent-shaped structure. Together, they provide 400,000 square feet of offices, meeting and training spaces, and parking for a federal law enforcement agency. The three multi-tiered wings have blast-tested glass walls, a shared skylit atrium, and several interconnecting pedestrian bridges at each floor. Two series of tensioned cables in two primary directions create the dramatic three-dimensional curved atrium roof structure. The colonnaded curved building wall delineates the edge of a sunken garden for employees. A multi-tiered garden wall structure resembling an aqueduct defines the northern and western perimeters of the site.

The complex was conceived as a key gateway to the capital city. The design concept was approved by the National Capital Planning Commission and the DC Commission of Fine Arts. Facing the main entrance is the pavilion for a recently opened Washington Metrorail Red Line Station (2004) and the entrance to the Metropolitan Branch Trail for bicycles. Nearby streets are being developed commercially, and two original Washington L'Enfant Streets (2nd Street and N Street NE) are being reintroduced after 100 years.

Completion Date: 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Owner or Client: General Services Administration (GSA)
Prime Consultant(s): Moshe Safdie & Associates