Awards
  • NAIOP MD/DC Award of Excellence, Best Suburban Office or Industrial/Flex
  • WBC Craftsmanship Award, HVAC-Piping

Project Brief

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But for us, repeat business is the sincerest form of flattery. It wasn’t long after JBG selected us to build the headquarters for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that they contacted us to take on a similar project as the general contractor for the headquarters of a confidential government agency in Rockville.

It’s not every day you have the opportunity to build a home for leaders in groundbreaking medical research, but this was our second time doing so in a very short timeframe. Similar to the NCI project, this agency wanted to unify their 2,000 administrative and data center personnel by creating one collaborative environment in a headquarters close to its existing laboratories in Bethesda, Maryland. Because of our experience with NCI and the General Services Administration (GSA), we were confident in our approach. With the support of the same development and design team, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.

brick building
courtyard with building in background
lobby of building with security kiosks
elevator lobby
conference room
outside eating area
outside of building and surrounding grounds

A Network of Intricacies

Every client’s project has its unique features. But for most government projects, these features are only seen by agency employees — like the complex data center for this confidential agency headquarters. Supported by an advanced underground infrastructure, the data center and crisis management center required the installation of highly complex electrical systems necessary to keep its mission-critical technology on-site. As we knew from constructing NCI’s data center, installing vulnerable network components is an exacting task — and a tight timeframe adds to the complexity.

We've Got Your Back

It was critical that the data center be complete before the tenant moved into the building. Through meticulous planning and ongoing communication with all subcontractors, our team managed the installation of backup generators, paralleling switchgear, an uninterrupted power supply system, panelboards, power distribution units, and busway feeders. We made sure the systems were up and running in time for the arrival of employees.

Architectural Excellence Meets Sustainability Leadership

This building is leading the way for progressive architecture in the Twinbrook neighborhood. By finishing the building with a terra cotta façade, the structure is beautiful and unique while meeting GSA standards.

Today, the headquarters continues to be lauded for its distinct aesthetics and commitment to sustainability. In fact, not only did this building achieve LEED Gold® certification, it also won the NAIOP MD/DC Award of Excellence for Best Suburban Office or Industrial/Flex. We credit the success of this job to the collaborative teamwork with the client and architect, and we’re proud to say that despite a very limited budget and timeframe, we were still able to come in ahead of schedule and under budget.

Photos by Jim Tetro

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Gaining the trust of your project partners doesn’t only help to build business, it builds success for all.

Pranav Pandya, Senior Vice President, DAVIS