by Tracy Ostroff
Contributing Editor

Summary: The 21st Century Workplace—the transformation of the AIA national headquarters—is in the first phase of design with determination, flexibility, and an eye to exploring all reasonable options, reports Marnique Heath, AIA, LEED AP, associate principal at STUDIOS architecture, the architect of record for the renewal of the headquarters complex. Although the architects are not ready to release the details of the conceptualization phase, Heath does say the design team will have to be very aggressive in their energy strategies to satisfy AIA energy reduction policies and achieve a carbon neutral building by 2030. This will mean taking advantage of daylighting; natural ventilation; other renewable energy sources, such as PV panels, wind turbines or geothermal systems; and, to a large degree, passive solar strategies.

The energy targets are just one element of the headquarters project, which will be a demonstration of sustainable/green, innovative 21st century workplace, and preservation design practices.

The project will employ the principles of integrated project delivery (IPD) and leverage the latest building information modeling (BIM) technology to deliver a completed project that satisfies the AIA’s energy reduction policies (60 percent reduction in fossil fuel use by 2012 and carbon neutrality by 2030). It also will demonstrate how significant 20th-century Modern urban buildings can and should be renovated, preserved, and renewed. The project will be well documented and serve as a national model.

Time to modernize the systems
The Institute building originally was designed by The Architect’s Collaborative, a firm founded by Walter Gropius. It was first occupied in 1973 and is a prominent example of a Modern building designed to respect a historic landmark; in this case one of the most important historic structures in Washington, D.C., the Octagon (now the museum of the American Architectural Foundation). Because of its architectural and cultural significance, the AIA headquarters building will be eligible for future landmark status.

However, after 35 years, many of the headquarters building’s elements and systems are nearing the end of their service life, and maintaining them in sound working order is becoming a more difficult and expensive task. The building’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing, vertical transportation, fire protection, glazing, roofing, lighting, parking, and envelope systems are among those in need of modernization.

As managing director of the AIA 21st Century Workplace project, James Gatsch, FAIA, is the AIA’s liaison to the project team. The AIA Board Building Committee, chaired by AIA Treasurer Hal Munger, FAIA, will oversee the project on the AIA’s behalf. “We want to be a leader in sustainability, energy reduction, and preservation” Gatsch says. “We want to be good stewards of our building and show other owners, through our actions, how these goals can be accomplished. Using the principles of integrated project delivery and building information modeling will be essential to the project’s success,” Gatsch says.

No Silos
In the last few months, with an emphasis on IPD and bringing all the members of the team together as early in the process as possible, the AIA Board approved STUDIOS architecture as the architect of record and, more recently, added construction specialist DPR Construction Inc., based in Redwood City, Calif., and the Syska Hennessy Group as the MEP to the team. These entities were selected, as will be all team members, through a qualifications-based process, Gatsch reports. A historic preservationist, structural engineering consultant, civil/geotechnical engineer, landscape architect, and commissioning consultant, among others, will join the IPD team, Gatsch notes.

As more consultants and subcontractors are identified and assembled by the three-party team of the AIA, STUDIOS, and DPR, the groups will start feeding information into the computerized building model. DPR is co-locating with STUDIOS, an arrangement that fosters even greater collaboration, Heath says. For now they are also sharing information in weekly meetings with the other team members and through e-mail and an FTP site. These sessions, along with video conferencing for the off-site partners, allow them to bounce ideas off each other. “No one is working in a silo,” Heath says. By the time the building is completed, all the drawings will have built the building virtually in a 3D model.

The team has completed work on a study of existing conditions, and the architects are meeting with AIA staff to discuss how the sustainable strategies will affect their spaces and what it means to work in a 21st-century workplace. “It really requires a cultural change to make the project successful,” Heath says. She notes that the AIA staff, like their other clients, is supportive of the idea of sustainability and net-zero energy use and the behavior changes it means for them. “Our discussions with the AIA staff will provide a greater understanding and more complete buy-in, which will lead to a more successful project.” Heath also points out that the AIA leadership championed the idea early on, placing the project on a more secure path. The synergy of occupants and design is set to produce an optimized workspace that is healthier, more productive, flexible, collaborative, and accessible.

Heath says the team is integrating feedback from the AIA Grassroots session and conversations they have had with knowledge community leaders. The AIA is looking forward to more interactive sessions with members. The design team is working with the AIA staff on a communications strategy to release more information to members and the public as well. One idea that is being explored is the creation of a blog through which the STUDIOS architects would share their experiences about the design, perhaps after the completion of each project phase. “It would be a shame to hold all the information until the end of the project,” Heath says.

Walking the walk
The Grassroots session in February brought up questions of sustainable rating systems and of the idea of “going beyond” LEED™ Platinum. Although the AIA and the designers have not begun an analysis of the project’s goals using any specific rating system yet, they are clear that they will achieve the critical aspects of the AIA’s positions on sustainable and energy-efficient design. That, plus meeting the goals of the 2030 Challenge, Heath says, would likely “push the design beyond platinum.” Gatsch notes that they are charged as a building team to complete the checklists of three leading rating systems, the USGBC’s LEED rating system, Green Globes, and SB Tools.

“We will be evaluating everything because we know we have to be extremely aggressive to meet our targets,” Heath says.

Striking a balance
At the same time, the architects know that even though they are moving the AIA headquarters forward into the 21st century, they are renewing a beloved building with an architectural and cultural significance that makes it a prime candidate for future landmark status. One of the key design parameters was that modifications to the AIA’s HQ building’s exterior will be made in a way that respects its relationship to the Octagon while maintaining the building’s eligibility for historic recognition in the future.

It’s a point the design team is not taking lightly. “Because we want to achieve the challenge of a net-zero building, while at the same time preserving a building that will potentially be achieving landmark status, the design needs to strike a balance between preservation and renovation,” Heath says.

“We have to strike that balance,” she reiterates, using as an example the façade, which she notes provides no insulation for the spaces inside. The team will work to preserve the exterior in a way which is consistent with the intent of the original architecture, but also at the same time, make the building façade perform at a high level. “Done right, as will be insisted upon by AIA members,” says Gatsch, who is mindful of the symbolic importance of the building to the 80,000-plus AIA members and to the profession at large, “the renewal of the AIA headquarters building can and will be the best example of how to renovate a Modern building.”

Construction work is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2009 and be completed in about 24 months.