by Brianna Crandall — July 21, 2014—The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations has opened and/or broken ground on several new embassies in countries around the world in recent months, all of which are intended to provide a modern, convenient, and secure workplace for the staff, and all of which were designed to support the U.S. government’s focus on sustainable facilities. The projects include the Department’s first major wind-powered turbine for an American Embassy.
OBO maintains that diplomatic facilities should represent American values and the best in American architecture, engineering, technology, sustainability, art, culture, and construction execution. Since 1999, as part of the Department’s Capital Security Construction Program, the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) has completed 113 new diplomatic facilities and has an additional 30 projects in design or under construction.
New U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Situated on a 16-acre site in the Altos de Arroyo Hondo section of Santo Domingo, the new multi-building U.S. Embassy complex in Santo Domingo includes a chancery, a U.S. Marine Corps residence, three access pavilions, a support annex, and community facilities.
The $193 million project incorporates numerous sustainable features to conserve resources and reduce operating costs, including a 345 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic array, light-emitting diode (LED) site lighting, and water reuse from an on-site wastewater treatment plant to irrigate site plantings.
Moore Ruble Yudell Architects and Planners of Santa Monica, California, is the design architect, and Integrus Architecture of Spokane, Washingto, is the architect of record. Caddell Construction Company LLC of Montgomery, Alabama constructed the multi-building campus.
Groundbreaking on new U.S. Embassy in Nouakchott, Mauritania
The new U.S. Embassy will be situated on a 10.5-acre site in the Tevragh Zeina district and will include a chancery, warehouse and maintenance facilities, a utility building, multiple access pavilions, and community facilities.
The $181 million project will incorporate numerous sustainable features, including the Department’s first major wind-powered turbine for an American Embassy; emissions-free power through the use of the 50 kW wind turbine and a 185 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic array; an onsite water treatment plant for irrigation reuse; and LED site lighting. The facility’s design targets LEED Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The design architect is AECOM of Arlington, Virginia, and Integrus Architecture of Spokane, Washington, is the architect of record. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2017 and will be constructed by Caddell Construction Company of Montgomery, Alabama.
Groundbreaking on new U.S. Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands
The new Embassy, designed by Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners of Santa Monica, California, will be situated on a 10 acre site in the municipality of Wassenaar and will include a chancery, a U.S. Marine Corps residence, a maintenance building, a utility building, and two access pavilions.
The $206 million project’s numerous planned sustainable features include a rain capture system for irrigation reuse; the use of ground source heat pumps for both heating and cooling; and LED site lighting. The facility’s design targets LEED Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The new Embassy is scheduled to be completed in 2017 and will be constructed by Caddell Construction Company of Montgomery, Alabama.
