United States Census Bureau Headquarters
Suitland, MD

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Owner

U.S. General Services Administration

Architect

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill / HKS

Construction Manager

DMJM / Heery

Facade Consultant

Curtainwall Design Consulting

GC

Skanska

Completion

2006

Contract Value

14m

Program

8-stories, 128 ft

LEED Rating

Silver certified

Building Type

Government

Technology Type

Government Projects, Green, Large/Special Glass, Skylights, Sunshading

Facade

Design/build program consisting of custom ribbon windows and facade systems, including 190,000 sqft of unitized curtainwall and a 103,000 sqft strip window system installed between precast panels

Glass

Variations of 1 inch insulated glass units with low-e coating, VE1-2M 1 inch insulated glazing unit with 10% ceramic frit; provided by Viracon

Description

The U.S. Census Bureau's LEED Silver certified headquarters campus maximises energy efficiencies through natural ventilation and day-lighting

The United States Census Bureau Headquarters campus is a showcase of sustainable design. GSA’s program called for a new headquarters building that consolidated 6,000 employees from six different offices into a singular facility designed to LEED Silver standards.

The campus features two separate buildings bound by a central courtyard on a 30-acre site, creating a structural mass that extends nearly a quarter-mile long. The transparent glass facade is comprised of two custom systems: a 103,000 square foot strip window system that is installed in continuous lengths between precast panels, and a 190,000 square foot fully glazed unitized curtainwall system that is used for walls facing the courtyard. A skylight system in the cafeteria provides day-lighting to this area.

Featured areas of the Census Bureau building are clad in brise soleil — laminated wood fins that are attached to the glass facade. The facade behind the fins is composed of pre-cast spandrels and alternates with strip windows using 1 inch insulated glazing panels with a 10 percent ceramic frit. The fins extend past the edges of the walls, creating a sinuous skin that breaks the box and enlivens the site, in addition to reducing glare. Glass walls facing the courtyard do not include the fin screen in an effort to maximize transparency and allow natural light into the interior. Glass in these areas does include a custom frit pattern that mimics the wood screen elsewhere.

The strip window system was manufactured and assembled with Enclos vendor/partner Aluvisa in Mexico City as a collaborative effort, while curtainwall units were fabricated and assembled in an Enclos manufacturing facility in Canada.

 

The United States Census Bureau Headquarters has been the recipient of numerous awards, among them:


Award of Excellence: Architectural Record /
Business Week, 2007.

Design Award: AIA New York City Chapter, 2005.

Sustainability in the Workplace Citation: U.S. General Services Administration, 2007.

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