We are the prime A-E contractor for a renovation and building addition providing laboratory, data center and secure office space — including a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) area — to accommodate relocation and consolidation of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) personnel, laboratories, and data center spaces.
Our team was responsible for assessment of the existing five-story, 225,000-square-foot facility, and infrastructure and renovation design, including: analysis; engineering calculations; technical specifications; construction drawings; specialized studies and reports; interior design; furniture fixtures and equipment (FF&E) procurement packages; and construction phasing plans.
The renovation is designed to eliminate operational inefficiencies by consolidating engineering, modeling, testing, research and acquisition personnel into a single facility and providing a consolidated data center. Our design provides a new Tier III data center with mechanical and electrical backup power, 18,000-square-foot facility expansion housing equipment supporting the data center, expansion of an existing substation, computer laboratories, open office and storage space, and one ICD 705–compliant sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) space. The facility includes secure spaces, secure access spaces, and SCIF spaces. The additional laboratory and administrative space accommodate agency growth plans.
The Ground Test Flight Infrastructure (GTFI) facility will provide a collaborative work environment with secure computer laboratory spaces for government testing and simulation of research activities. Substantive space on the ground level is dedicated to data center server racks, consolidating server capacity for testing and research operations into a single comprehensive data center with room for expansion. Existing shared support spaces will remain on all upper floors, including conference rooms, break rooms, business centers, restrooms and storage.
Comprehensive Facility Assessments
We conducted a space planning study, facility assessment and facility infrastructure assessment of the existing Redstone Arsenal facility and MDA’s off-site facilities. The assessments included the central plants, equipment yards, interior and exterior equipment, and utility distribution and capacity. The evaluation included analysis of power requirements for the data center.
To maximize space utilization and to meet facility and MDA mission needs, labs needed to be restructured and reorganized, and data centers needed to be optimized and consolidated.
We analyzed and performed comprehensive assessments of the existing electrical, architectural, mechanical and plumbing systems. We then provided recommended courses of action (COA) and floor plans with costs to upgrade and modernize the systems, facility and data centers. We also assessed the existing roof and provided recommendations for repair or replacement as needed.
Critical Power Supplies
The labs and data center require critical edge building design for significant electrical power, including connection to an electrical power management system (EPMS). To support critical IT loads, the main switchgear will feed an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system. Each switchgear will be equipped with a normal and backup control power feed to maintain operability during an outage. The project also required upgrades to an existing substation and new medium-voltage electrical lines to provide redundant power to the facility.