Wright-Patt Security Forces Ops Center

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Location: Fairborn, Ohio

Type of Precast: CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels

Size: 52,000 sq. ft. (43,900 sq. ft. CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels)

Design Architect: Emersion Design
Architect of Record: Roll & Associates, Inc.
Engineer:  Woolpert, Inc.
General Contractor: Wilcon Corporation
Owner: US Army Engineer District, Louisville

Overview

Quick Points:

• CarbonCast chosen for design versatility and durability
• Façade captures institutional aesthetic using civic vocabulary
• Carbon fiber wythe connectors deter thermal bridging through panels
• CarbonCast façade made under an agreement with AltusGroup, Inc.

Contents:

Summary

  CarbonCast enclosure expresses welcome and security on military base

Building Details

  Structural versatility and durability

Aesthetics

  Bringing multiple programs together through one vocabulary

Summary

CarbonCast enclosure expresses welcome and security on military base

The new Security Forces Headquarters on Ohio’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base establishes a strong formal presence at the main entrance of the base. The $14-million, 52,000-square-foot facility provides new headquarters consolidating base-wide security, and includes armory, office space, dispatch center, detention area, and warehouse.

To create a civic image for the building that was also durable and thermally efficient, designers chose an enclosure built with CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels from High Concrete Group LLC’s Springboro, Ohio plant.

“Precast is an appropriate language for civic buildings, in part because it recalls limestone” says Jim Cheng, project architect for Emersion Design, the design architect for the project. “CarbonCast gave us a thermally efficient envelope that is also durable, a main consideration for wear and tear and anti-terrorism and force protection.”

The Security Forces headquarters was a design-build collaboration between Wilcon Corporation and Roll & Associates, Inc. The building concept was developed by Emersion Design. 

Building Details

Structural versatility and durability

The Security Forces building is a two-thirds exposed “L” shape, with one leg occupied by 23,000 sq. ft. of space over two stories for the office, jail, dispatch, and locker/shower and assembly areas for over 400 base security officers. The armory consists of 1,500 sq. ft. of weapons storage area surrounded by 8 inch thick concrete vault construction. The other leg of the “L” is a warehouse consisting of 16,000 sq. ft. of high bay storage area allowing rack systems up to 24 feet high.

“Durability was a primary reason for choosing precast,” says John Roll, project architect for Roll & Associates, Inc. which served as the architect of record. “It’s the police station for the base, so it needs to be secure, not just for detainees, but for employees who can be rough on the facility, and who need anti-terrorism and force protection.” He notes that the interior finish is drywall in the office areas, and unpainted steel trowel finish precast in the warehouse.

The thermally efficient CarbonCast enclosure contributes toward the sustainable performance of the building, which is designed for LEED Silver Certification. The panels encapsulate a 2” layer of rigid XPS foam insulation for continuous insulation as defined by the ASHRAE 90.1 energy code. CarbonCast technology utilizes C-GRID^® carbon fiber wythe ties that provide fully composite structural performance with low thermal conductivity. The thermally efficient envelope delivers an average R-10.

Complex project phasing allowed the adjacent Combined Arms Training and Maintenance Facility (CATB) to remain operational throughout construction.

Aesthetics

Bringing multiple programs together through one vocabulary

“Precast is a versatile material that allowed us to create a vocabulary that’s appropriate for the headquarters, the firing range and warehouse,” says Cheng. “The contemporary classicist language emphasizes the important civic role of the facility.”

The exterior walls are highly articulated to match the precast of the adjacent CATB, another Emersion Design project that was completed ten years before. In order to create the visual of two anchors framing a main courtyard, the office tower mirrors the entry tower of the adjacent building. The architectural language of the headquarters building articulates the cohesiveness with the existing buildings.

Reveals in the precast formwork combine with false and real panel joints to create a block-like image that suggests limestone. The blocks are scaled to give the illusion of height to the first floor of the two-story section. The second story is set back, enhancing this effect. Both stories have regular panel details that suggest columns with pedestals; a bullnose and cornice create a strong horizontal line above the column images to bring a human scale to the façade.

The vocabulary is extended for larger glazing appropriate to administrative functions and to contribute to an identity that conveys both strength and openness. The CarbonCast enclosure helped create a strong sense of compatibility with pre-existing buildings, giving the sense of a unified complex, notes Cheng.

“With a constrained site, allocating all the program that recognized the formal area and the service side of the warehouse, we were able to create a unified complex around the courtyard and address those issues in a rectilinear building that is efficient,” says Cheng. “The building incorporates a fairly high level of detail, and conveys the kind of character that might be associated with more of an institutional building.”

CarbonCast is a registered trademark of AltusGroup, Inc.
C-GRID is a registered trademark of Chomarat NA